From 16 December 2007, premium rate service providers will have to indicate the cost of all chargeable SMSes sent, within the message itself.

Issued by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), the Code of Practice aims to promote responsible business practices and give firms more certainty on how they should operate. Consumers will also have greater peace of mind and confidence when purchasing chargeable premium rate services such as mobile phone wallpapers, ringtones and news alerts, said IDA.

With the new Code, which takes effect from 16 December 2007, premium rate service providers will have to indicate the cost of all chargeable SMSes sent, within the message itself. They will also need to send non-chargeable messages to consumers to confirm their service subscriptions, and follow-up with regular reminders on charges. A customer service hotline also has to be maintained, at least during local business hours, so that consumers can contact the service providers easily for queries regarding services and charges.

For network operators who bill consumers on behalf of the premium rate service providers, the Code of Practice requires them to provide assistance to consumers in cases of dispute over charges, and ensure that the bill contains information such as the premium rate services that the consumer is being billed for, the charges incurred, as well as the customer service hotline for the services so that consumers know who to call. They are also not to demand payment for any service that is being disputed and pending resolution between the consumer and the premium rate service provider.

IDA Deputy Chief Executive and Director-General (Telecoms) Mr Leong Keng Thai said many in the premium rate services industry already have good business practices in place in order to retain their customers. “The new Code formalises these practices so that all businesses have increased clarity on acceptable conduct, and consumers have greater protection,” he said. “By enhancing consumers’ confidence in using premium rate services, service providers benefit too because it will help to attract more users and the industry can continue to grow.”

According to IDA, the introduction of the Code of Practice comes after a public consultation in May this year and careful consideration of all 15 industry submissions that were made. The new Code complements the existing Telecoms Competition Code, which already sets out obligations for all telecoms licensees. Premium rate service providers and their billing operators will have to abide by it, in addition to existing licensing requirements and the Telecoms Competition Code. Premium rate service providers who flout the regulations may face financial penalties of up to S$1 million and/or licence suspension,
said IDA.

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), together with the Singapore Business Federation, led a business delegation to Hungary and Poland last month as part of efforts to help local infocomm companies explore e-government opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe. The business trip took place in conjunction with Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s official visit to Hungary on 8-10 October 2007.

The business delegation, led by IDA and the Singapore Business Federation, visited Hungary and Poland to explore e-government opportunities.

Members of the infocomm delegation included CrimsonLogic (www.crimsonlogic.com), Singapore Technologies Electronics (www.stee.stengg.com), Stratech Systems (www.stratechsystems.com) and the Singapore IT Federation (www.sitf.org.sg).

Commenting on the infocomm opportunities in the two countries, Ms Tham Ai Chyn, Assistant Chief Executive, Industry and Cluster Development, IDA, noted that Poland and Hungary had joined the European Union (EU) in 2004 and were aligning themselves to the EU’s i2010, a strategic policy framework, which lays out broad policy guidelines for the information society and the media. “In the two country's transition towards a vibrant free market, opportunities exist for Singapore companies, particularly in areas like IT solutions in e-Government, intelligent transport systems, hospitality management services and possibly environmental services and logistics,”
she said.

Hungary is one of Singapore's largest trading partners among the Central European countries and the country’s infocomm and telecommunications (ICT) industry has considerable backing from the government. Last year, the Hungarian government spent some €19.5 million (S$40.56 million) on the development of IT. A further investment of €546 million is planned over the next seven years from EU funds.

During last month’s visit, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between ST Electronics and Hungary’s Albacomp Computers Company to jointly pursue and implement infrastructure projects for the public and private sectors in the country. Albacomp is one of the five largest IT companies in Hungary. The MOU was signed in Budapest during the Singapore-Hungary Business Forum, witnessed by Prime Minister Lee and Hungary's Minister of Economy and Transport, Mr Janos Koka. As a start, both companies have identified and agreed to pursue two public projects in the areas of mass transit and e-Government, and are expecting potential market opportunities in these areas with a value worth more than US$100 million in the near term.

The Singapore delegation also visited Poland, where €700 million is planned to be spent on developing IT resources within public administrations offices between 2007 and 2013. Speaking at the Poland-Singapore Business Forum during the visit, Mr. S. Iswaran, Minister of State for the Singapore Ministry of Trade and Industry, said he saw great scope for cooperation in ICT, especially in the e-Government space. “Poland is the largest ICT market in Central and Eastern Europe, and its ICT industry contributed a significant 5.5 per cent to GDP in 2005. Prospects for the Polish ICT industry remain bright due to fresh demand, especially in e-Government,” he said.

eGL’s customised programme provided the Estonians with an overview of Singapore’s e-Government experience, infocomm development and education.

The many parallels between Estonia and Singapore intrigued the delegates of the Estonian Association of Information Technology and Telecommunications, who were in Singapore for a workshop organised by the eGovernment Leadership Centre or eGL (www.egl.sg) in October. Both are tiny nations surrounded by big countries, both leverage greatly on their geopolitical location and both grapple with manpower challenges because of their
small population.

The Estonian association is a voluntary organisation that represents the interests of the country’s IT and telecommunications companies and promotes its development into an information society.

Its president, Mr Urmas Kolli, said the group had looked around the world to identify countries which were leaders in infocomm technology, and found Singapore to be very successful in this respect. “Singapore is ranked very high globally in infocomm development,” said Mr Kolli, who is also Chairman of the Board of Datel, one of Estonia’s leading information technology companies.

eGL custom-designed a programme that provided the 17 Estonian delegates with an overview of Singapore’s e-Government experience, the development of its infocomm industry, the provision of infocomm technology education, as
well as Singapore’s e-business and sourcing strategies.

Commending the programme, Mr Kolli said, “Someone had spent a lot of time understanding what we were looking for and the programme was exactly what we needed…From this workshop, we got fresh ideas on how to solve some of our problems.”

For example, he noted that Estonia offered a very traditional model of infocomm training in contrast to Singapore’s approach, which was more flexible and included short infocomm technology courses. “This is one way to get around our shortage of infocomm manpower,” he said. “Through this, we can train up infocomm professionals more rapidly.”

Another delegate, Mr Indrek Jakobson from Estonia’s largest technology university, the Tallinn University of Technology, said what was interesting to him was Singapore’s experience in building up a successful infocomm system so quickly, and taking it so far with so little resources. “That’s very interesting to us because we see so many similarities between Singapore and Estonia,” said Mr Jakobson, who heads the university’s Technology and Innovation Centre. “I got four pages of ideas from the workshop.”

The NFC trial will involve over 20,000 ez-link payment acceptance points in the public transport and retail sectors.

EZ-Link and StarHub are rolling out the first public trial of Near-Field Communication (NFC) services in Singapore, which will involve over
20,000 ez-link payment acceptance
points in both the public transport and retail sectors.

The EZ-Link-StarHub partnership aims to integrate the ez-link purse into a mobile phone with NFC, a short-range wireless technology that enables contactless applications. This would turn the phones into payment devices that could potentially be accepted at ez-link terminals on buses, trains and in retail locations. About 1,000 handsets have been distributed for the six-month trial, during which participants can use the NFC phone for payments and to download information from smart posters.

Besides making payment at ez-link acceptance points, users can also use the NFC-enabled mobile phones to access other innovative contactless mobile phone applications. For example, the Land Transport Authority (LTA) will be deploying smart tags at 32 selected bus stops with a high volume of commuter traffic along Orchard Road. By tapping against the NFC smart tag on the Bus Service Information Poster, trial participants can obtain a list of bus service numbers and routes that call at that bus stop via GPRS (general packet radio service). This service is provided free of charge to trial participants for the duration of the trial.

Smart tags are also being deployed on posters mounted in Wisma Atria Shopping Mall and Orchard MRT station’s concourse level, ClearChannel bus shelters, Golden Village Cineplexes and Sony Gallery Stores. They will be used to communicate their promotions and special offers to the trial participants.

“The feedback from our trialists will help us understand consumer behaviour toward the NFC technology and provide valuable inputs as we develop new and exciting applications and services that utilise the technology,” said Mr Anil Nihalani, Vice President of StarHub’s Mobile Services.

In September, Singapore Telecommunications and NETS also unveiled plans for a public NFC trial later this year. The payment solution being planned will allow users to download an mNETS application which will enable them to store and top up value in their phones any time via the GPRS network. Users will then be able to make payments using NETS FlashPay by flashing their SingTel mobile phones at NETS contactless terminals islandwide. One other application under mNETS will be the mNETS Coupons, an electronic coupon that can be downloaded with a NFC-enabled phone to provide the SingTel user with discounts and freebies.