While I was away on my trip, my newsfeed was basically flooded with statuses like:

• “OMG SINGTEL GONNA CHARGE FOR WHATSAPP??!” 
• “OMG SAFRA membership renewed automatically from March 2014! – Must pay S$40!!”

Sounds familiar?

Lol, I was pretty scared then but I didn’t get the time to go check out whether the news is real or not because A) I’m a SingTel user B) The bf signed up for the SAFRA membership card during the NS45 initative.

Luckily, it’s not true though @_@

This is a little late, but just sharing the following clarifications taken from Mothership.sg HERE & HERE:

SAFRA clarifies no automatic renewal of membership for those who signed up through NS45 initiative

Those who opted in for the free SAFRA membership through the NS45 initiative, rest easy. You will not have your membership renewed automatically come March 2014.

Those who opted in for the free membership through the NS45 initiative will not have your membership renewed automatically. Hope that is good news for some of you!

 SingTel clarifies on Facebook that WhatsApp will not be charged separately

SingTel chief executive Chua Sock Koong asked the regulators in Australia to give carriers like Optus the right to charge rivals WhatsApp and Skype for use of their networks or risk a major decline in network investment.

This was what she said at the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona: “The main problem we have as an industry is we have been unable to monetise this increased demand”.. We must create sustainable revenue models.” (Sydney Morning Herald)

This did not go down well on the local social media sphere as many SingTel subscribers lamented that they are already paying for a data as part of their subscription plan with SingTel. In an attempt to clarify the statements made by its CEO, SingTel decided to share on FB that there was a misunderstanding.

The Whatsapp Pass chargeable add-on service it has for postpaid customers was optional and targeted at users who do not have data plans, such as those on voice and text messaging plans.

Credits: Mothership.sg HERE & HERE

So, it’s all a big misunderstanding right? Or isit <_<~

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Till later,
♥ mitsueki

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