StarHub Launches New Value International Calling Service I-Call 018 With Discounts Up to Almost 80%

 

Residential, Mobile, Business, Payphone and Pre-paid Card Customers Will Enjoy 60% Savings For One Month

 

Singapore, 11 July 2000 -- StarHub, Singapore’s new info-communication service provider, today announced the launch of I-Call 018, its version of a budget and Voice-over-IP international calling service. Starting from 12 July 2000, all residential, mobile and business customers as well as users of StarHub payphones will enjoy a one-month promotional offer, with up to almost 80% savings against existing BudgetCall 013 published rates. In addition, users of this service will also help contribute towards charity, as StarHub is committing 1.8% of the revenue generated from all 018 calls towards community projects via the newly launched StarHub Empowerment Fund.

 

I-Call 018 will be delivered on a technology platform that is predominantly IP-based. StarHub’s new VoIP service will be carried over managed networks instead of traditional public networks to ensure users obtain a reasonable voice quality but yet enjoy significant cost savings through the use of this technology.

 

StarHub has launched I-Call 018 based on VoIP, recognizing that IP telephony is rapidly becoming the new standard for both consumer and enterprise communications. Today, IP networks have become the next generation networks, and is the way to go for future applications in a "new economy". This trend has been observed with the convergence of voice, fax and other data, which is creating a foundation for deploying integrated communication services and applications ranging from unified messaging to multimedia and video.

 

Says Mr. William Tan, General Manager, IP and Telephony Solutions at StarHub, "We have developed a robust infrastructure to offer this service at very competitive rates to address the needs of budget-conscious customers who are looking for an international calling service at a value-for-money price without substantially compromising on voice quality. In future, customers can also look forward to more value-added services, which we hope to offer on this platform."

 

With the launch of I-Call 018, StarHub now offers a choice of two international calling services, catering to different groups of consumers in the market. Customers requiring a high voice quality for mission critical calls can access StarHub’s premium IDD 008 service. On the other hand, the new VoIP I-Call 018 service gives customers the option of paying less for second tier quality calls.

 

As with its premier IDD 008 service, I-Call 018 users will continue to enjoy the following benefits with StarHub’s simplified pricing scheme for international calling services:

  • Single rate per international destination, 24 hours per day, 7 days a week.
  • Per second billing, based on actual time of usage from the moment a call is made by a customer.
  • Single zone pricing to continents such as Europe, Central and South America, The Middle East and Africa.

Essentially, this means that customer’s can make calls at their convenience, any time of the day and talk for less.

 

For one month beginning 12 July 2000, I-Call 018 users will receive discounts up to almost 80% based on existing published market rates for international calls made to more than 230 destinations. For example an I-Call 018 call to the USA or Canada will cost 27.6 cents per minute, a call to Hong Kong, 32.4 cents per minute and calls to the UK and Australia will both be billed at 31.6 cents, throughout the entire day.

 

Between 12 July 2000 to 12 August 2000, each three-minute call made using I-Call 018 will entitle customers to enter into a draw to win a BMW 318 (without COE). In addition, 180 pre-paid calling cards, worth $38.00 each will also be given out as consolation prizes. Basically, the more calls the customer makes, the more chances they stand to win. (Users of StarHub Payphones, pre-paid calling cards and Pre-paid SIMs will not be eligible to enter the draw)

 

All customers (including those from SingTel and M1) who have earlier registered for StarHub’s IDD 008 service will automatically be able to use I-Call 018. Users of StarHub payphones can also access this service directly. StarHub’s I-Call 018 service will also be made available to pre-paid calling card users in August 2000. Customers who have not registered can sign-up with for StarHub’s International Calling Services by picking up a registration form from any StarHub shop, calling our toll-free Customer Care hotline at Tel : 1-800-7827482, or by visiting our corporate website, at http://www.starhub.com.sg .

 

Launch of StarHub Empowerment Fund

Along with the introduction of I-Call 018, StarHub will be allocating 1.8% of call revenues it obtains from this service to the newly established StarHub Empowerment Fund. This new Fund has been set up to support organizations whose programmes encourage learning, training, skill enhancement, research and development and various forms of knowledge-building initiatives in the Singapore community.

 

Through this, StarHub hopes to promote two of its corporate values -- challenging the norm and nurturing talents that will empower individuals, particularly those seeking to overcome disabilities with confidence and self esteem to assimilate and establish themselves in society.

 

Said Mr Henry Lim, Chief Financial Officer at StarHub, "Our community programme vision is to promote learning and enrichment within the Singapore society. StarHub’s goal is to work with organisations that share the synergy and mind share in our community programme vision. We believe that everyone has the capacity to learn and grow at their own pace, even those with special learning needs. Through this initiative, we hope to contribute towards the further development of skills in the community. " By using StarHub’s I-Call 018 service, the public can also lend their support in aid of those less privileged to reach their potential in life."

 

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