Food deliveryman makes S$40-S$50 less due to Singtel outage

Thousands of Singtel and Gomo users were unable to connect to the mobile network for more than eight hours on Mar. 16.

As a result, some services in Singapore, such as ride-hailing, food delivery, and electronic payments, could not function properly for some.

GOMO is a sub-brand of Singtel.

Food delivery personnel saw income take a hit

A 52-year-old delivery rider told Shin Min Daily News that he could not connect to the Singtel mobile network from 10am to 1pm on Monday.

This led to him missing out on S$40 to S$50 of income as he could not get online to receive food orders during the lunch period.

He said: “I have been a Singtel user for over 10 years and have been a food delivery person for about five years. I have encountered this situation two or three times before.”

Another delivery rider, aged 30, said there were intermittent periods where connectivity was an issue following the outage, but his loss in income was not as severe.

He said: "There were also brief interruptions from time to time afterwards, and I estimate the loss to be about S$20."

Others affected

A private-hire vehicle driver said experienced drivers have at least two mobile phones and are subscribed to different telecommunications companies, in case of emergencies.

Other merchants that were affected included those whose electronic payment services could not function as usual due to the outage.

Those using Singtel SIM cards to support their Nets electronic payment terminals, as well as consumers using Singtel's mobile network, could not make e-payments.

Problems on two days unrelated

On Mar. 17, some users were again affected.

But Singtel said the problems on both days were unrelated.

In a Mar. 17 Facebook post at 11:30am, the telco said a “small number” of customers were facing connectivity issues.

It added that at around 5pm on Tuesday, mobile connectivity had been restored.

Customers were advised to restart their phones or switch their devices to airplane mode and back to restore connectivity.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said in a statement that preliminary investigations did not suggest any evidence that the incidents are "cyber-related".

IMDA added that it would not hesitate to "take strong regulatory action against Singtel" should any lapses be identified.

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News