By Alfred Siew, Technology Correspondent

MOBILEONE (M1) on Monday became the third provider to enter the home broadband fray, with new cut-price deals, stoking up a new round of competition for such services here.

The cellphone operator is providing a cable modem service to homes, which Internet surfers can use to hook up to the Internet using a cable point.

This is similar to StarHub's existing cable modem service because M1 is leasing the cable modem network from StarHub.

However, the new entrant is offering lower prices - a boon for home users looking for better deals.

The fastest broadband service in town - at 100Mbps - costs $88.50 a month from M1.

StarHub charges $99.30, although it gives away freebies like camcorders, while SingTel does not have a 100Mbps service.

A slower service, at 10Mbps, costs $43.50 a month from M1, while SingTel charges $58. StarHub does not have a 10Mbps service but its 12Mbps offering costs $65.06.