Simba Telecom
TypePrivate
ASX: TUA
IndustryTelecommunications
Founded1 July 2016 (2016-07-01)
Headquarters1 Kaki Bukit View, Techview, Singapore 415941
Area served
Singapore
Key people
David Teoh (Executive Chairman)[1]
ProductsMobile Services
Fibre Broadband
RevenueS$57.4 million (Sept 2022)[2]
Number of employees
Approx. 100
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

SIMBA Telecom Pte Ltd, formerly known as TPG Singapore, is a Singaporean telecommunications company and one of four major telcommunication company operating in the country.

TPG Singapore was founded in 2016 by Australian businessman David Teoh after winning an auction from Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) for its airwaves. Until 2020, TPG Singapore was a subsidiary of TPG, an Australian telecommunications company founded by Teoh. After TPG merged with Vodafone Hutchison Australia to form TPG Telecom in 2020, TPG Singapore then became a subsidiary of Tuas Limited, a listed company on the Australian Securities Exchange that was also founded by Teoh. TPG Singapore adopted the current name SIMBA in April 2022 and remains a subsidiary of Tuas Limited

History

2016–2019: Founding as TPG Singapore

On 14 December 2016, it was announced that TPG had secured the fourth telecommunications license in Singapore for S$105 million (A$122 million).[3] The reserve price was only S$35 million, and TPG Singapore paid three times the minimum that was asked for by the Singapore authorities.[4][5][6]

They were provisionally allocated 60 MHz of spectrum made available in the New Entrant Spectrum Auction (NESA), with spectrum rights that commenced in April 2017. TPG was also expected to provide street level coverage nationwide within 18 months of the start date.[7]

On 21 December 2018, a call for 20,000 participants in a year-long trial was put out,[8] with another call for participants made in March 2019 while delaying the launch of the network to 2020.[9]

For voice communications, it makes use of Voice over LTE technology which saw subscribers have initial troubles setting up during the trial rollout at the start of 2019 as existing phones did not contain the configuration profile required for the VoLTE functionality to work.[10] These was largely resolved when the major brands added the configuration profile into their operating systems, with Apple adding the profile only in September 2019.[11]

In July 2019, a study by Opensignal found that TPG Singapore had slower network speeds and poorer connectivity than the established rival telcos.[12]

2020–present: Post merger of TPG Australia and Vodafone and rebrand to SIMBA

TPG launched commercial service in March 2020.[13]

Tuas Limited was incorporated in Australia on 11 March 2020 in anticipation of the demerger of the Singapore operations of TPG Telecom Limited (subsequently renamed to TPG Corporation Limited) resulting from the merger between TPG Telecom and Vodafone Hutchison Australia.[14] That merger attained final court approval on 26 June 2020 with the demerger of TPG Singapore becoming effective and under whose terms Tuas Limited has the rights to use the TPG brand in Singapore until June 2022.[15][16]

In November 2021, Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) [17][18] announced that the telco has won the rights to the 2.1GHz spectrum of 5G network and services and is provisionally awarded[19] two lots of 5MHz of the spectrum. With accordance to IMDA, TPG Singapore would have the right to provide 5G network services, starting 1 January 2022.[18] As part of the regulatory process, TPG Singapore has to roll out the 5G network islandwide by the end of 2026.[18]

In April 2022, TPG Singapore was rebranded to SIMBA Telecom after the end of its 2 years' usage rights to use the TPG brand.[20][21]

In March 2023, it was announced that SIMBA will be entering the internet service provider (ISP) market in Singapore, offering the first 2.5Gbps broadband service. It will be leveraging the existing network infrastructure in Singapore.[22]

Simba has 819k subscribers as at June 2023.

Network

Frequencies used on SIMBA Network in Singapore
BandFrequencyFrequency Width
(MHz)		ProtocolNotes
8 (900 MHz)(895~905; 940~950)2x10LTE
1 (2100 MHz)(1920~1930; 2110~2120)2x10LTE, 5G NR
40 (2.3GHz)2300~234040LTE, 5G NR
38 (2600 MHz)2570~258010LTE, 5G NR

References

  1. ↑ "TUAS - Building Better Connections". tuas.com.au.
  2. ↑ https://tuas.com.au/pdf/Tuas-Ltd-FY22-Investor-Presentation_For-ASX-Release.pdf
  3. ↑ "Australia's TPG wins battle for fourth telco licence in Singapore". TODAYonline. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  4. ↑ "TPG outbids MyRepublic to snag Singapore's fourth telco license". ZDNet.
  5. ↑ "TPG more likely to outbid MyRepublic in the 4th telco race". sg.finance.yahoo.com. 9 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "Australia's TPG wins battle for fourth telco licence in Singapore". TODAY.
  7. ↑ Ting, Lisabel (14 December 2016). "TPG Telecom wins rights to be Singapore's fourth telco". The Straits Times. Retrieved 6 June 2019.
  8. ↑ Hariz Baharudin (21 December 2018). "Free mobile service trial from Singapore's 4th telco TPG from next year | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  9. ↑ Salim, Zafirah (31 December 2019). "S'pore's 4th Telco TPG Extends Its Free 4G Mobile Trial, Delays Commercial Launch To 2020". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  10. ↑ "'Fittest will survive': Singapore's 4th telco TPG confident of thriving amid growing competition". CNA. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  11. ↑ "TPG VoLTE is finally supported on iPhone for making voice calls over LTE – OCWorkbench". Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  12. ↑ Wong, Lester (12 July 2019). "Fourth telco TPG confident of improving service after study shows it has slower speeds, poorer signal than rivals | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  13. ↑ Wong, Lester (31 March 2020). "TPG rolls out $10-for-50GB plan as it launches commercial services in Singapore | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  14. ↑ "TPG and Vodafone Australia to merge into AU$15b telco named TPG". ZDNet.
  15. ↑ MarketScreener (30 June 2020). "TPG Corporation Limited completed the spin-off of Tuas Limited. | MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
  16. ↑ "Vodafone Australia and TPG merger: Everything you need to know". ZDNET. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
  17. ↑ "2.1 GHZ SPECTRUM RIGHT (2022) GRANTED BY THE INFO-COMMUNICATIONS MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY UNDER REGULATION 6 OF THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS (RADIOCOMMUNICATION) REGULATIONS TO TPG TELECOM PTE LTD ON 1 JANUARY 2022" (PDF).
  18. 1 2 3 Auto, Hermes (26 November 2021). "S'pore telcos, TPG provisionally awarded 2.1GHz spectrum rights for 5G networks | The Straits Times". www.straitstimes.com.
  19. ↑ Ng, Kelly (26 November 2021). "Singtel, M1-StarHub tie-up, and TPG provisionally awarded 2.1 GHz spectrum rights for 5G networks". www.businesstimes.com.sg. Retrieved 22 January 2023.
  20. ↑ "TPG Singapore celebrates 2nd anniversary with half a million sign-ups milestone, announces rebranding initiative" (PDF) (Press release). Singapore. 4 April 2022.
  21. ↑ "Goodbye TPG. Hello to SIMBA Telecom!". www.hardwarezone.com.sg.
  22. ↑ "Tuas Limited Half Year Financial Year 2023 Results" (Press release). Singapore. 23 March 2023.
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