I HAVE been searching for a residential broadband plan.

As I am not a heavy Internet user, I was looking at the cheapest plans offered by the three Internet service providers (ISPs) here.

They offer a 24-month contract plan for a basic broadband service and throw in gifts such as a modem, which I do not need.

I presume that the majority of consumers in Singapore also do not need one, as they would already have had a modem from earlier subscription packages.

One of the broadband providers has bundled television content with its broadband service as part of its basic plan.

I sent an e-mail to the provider to request a lower subscription rate as I did not want the TV content, but was told that the charges would be the same.

It would be good if a telco could come up with a no-frills broadband service which gives consumers more options and the choice to receive only broadband.

Should consumers opt to receive gifts, a 12- or 24-month contract period could be imposed.

Should they not want the gifts, a shorter contract period of, say, three months, could be attached.

Mr Desmond Chew

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