OpenNet fined $750k

SINGAPORE - OpenNet, the builder of Singapore's fibre broadband network, has been fined a total of $750,000 for not meeting its Universal Service Obligation (USO) and Quality of Service (QoS) standards, said the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) in a statement today.

The regulator found that OpenNet had failed to provide services to certain physical addresses upon customers' requests between January 1 and June 30 this year.

This is a breach of the USO, which requires telecom licensees to provide specific telecom services to any end user who asks for them.

This potentially affected users in around 120,000 residential premises and 760 non-residential buildings, who could not have ordered high-speed fibre broadband if they had wanted to.

OpenNet was fined $550,000 for not meeting its USO for six months, deemed a "serious breach" by the IDA.

The network builder also incurred a $200,000 fine for failing to comply with the residential QoS standards in the first half of this year.

IDA said that the main reason for this was OpenNet's shortage of service activation capacity to meet the strong demand for connection services by a "very large margin".

The company met 91.3 per cent of its service orders within seven business days in April, but this fell to 75 per cent in May and 33 per cent in June.

In deciding the amount of the fine, IDA considered factors such as the huge spike in demand in May and June as a result of promotional activities. But it also felt a need to take "strong deterrent action against OpenNet for the poor QoS performance".

OpenNet has been given until December 31 to rectify its performance.

It said in a statement that it "acknowledges and is evaluating IDA's decision", and is committed to meeting the growing demand for fibre services in Singapore.

It has proposed to the IDA several initiatives aimed at improving its service delivery process.

They include the introduction of additional installation capacity and a handover process that will shorten the installation time when a fibre subscriber switches service providers.

OpenNet also said that it has increased installation capacity to cope with rising demand since July, but that hiring and training new teams will take time.