Letter writer: M1 must improve handling of Internet outage, compensate users

A letter writer has urged telecommunications provider M1 to improve the handling of any  fibre broadband outage and to provide free mobile data to users affected by the most recent incident.

Many subscribers across Singapore were affected by the Internet outage that lasted hours on Tuesday and Wednesday (May 12 and 13).

The letter to the Forum page of the national broadsheet this week was from Mr Dennis Tan Seow Koon.

Mr Tan, who was one of the subscribers affected, said he called the M1 hotline and was made to select several options before he reached an announcement on the outage when that information could have been given at the outset of the call.

Asserting that Internet access is a necessity for many, Mr Tan said M1 could have “spared many people much aggravation, dispelled the uncertainty subscribers had and reduced the number of calls to the M1 hotline” if subscribers had been informed of the outage via text message as had been done during a previous outage.

Mr Tan added that he was disappointed to get responses such as “we do not want this to happen, too” and being advised to “check back on Facebook” when he finally reached a customer service officer.

The letter writer suggested that M1 could have at least offered affected subscribers free mobile data so they could regain Internet access and urged the authorities to consider mandating that Internet providers must offer free mobile data in the event of future outages.

M1 has since announced that users who were affected by the outage this week will receive a one-week rebate off their June bill. Users must, however, apply to receive the rebate.

In a statement on Wednesday (May 13), the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) said it had started investigations into the outage and that it would not hesitate to take strong enforcement action should there be any lapses on M1’s part.

Read Mr Tan’s letter in full HERE.