StarHub Offers Highest Speed With Unbeatable Value For Residential Broadband In Singapore

Singapore, 20 January 2005 - StarHub, Singapore’s integrated info-communications service provider, today announced that from tomorrow, all existing customers on its MaxOnline 3000 service will be automatically upgraded to MaxOnline 6500 at no additional charge to their monthly subscription of S$76 (S$79.80 with GST), while new customers who sign up for MaxOnline 6500 from today will enjoy the same rate too.

MaxOnline customers will continue to enjoy always-on, unlimited broadband access to the Internet through their existing cable modems, and at an enhanced download speed of up to 6.5 Mbps (Megabits per second) or 6500 Kbps (Kilobits per second), the highest download speed available for residential broadband access plan in Singapore. For uploading, MaxOnline 6500 provides up to 384 Kbps.

“With the growing popularity of home-networking and other applications, we expect more and more customers will require a broadband Internet access plan that offers higher speeds, hence, our move to provide MaxOnline 6500 for customers, especially those households with multiple Internet users,” said Mr Thomas Ee, Senior Vice President of Online Services, StarHub. “Furthermore, as the Internet industry continues to innovate and evolve, we anticipate that there will be more online content and applications that will take advantage of higher download speeds in the near future. We believe that the new MaxOnline 6500 plan makes a ‘future-ready’ broadband choice for Netizens.”

“With MaxOnline 6500, StarHub currently offers the highest download and upload speeds for residential broadband Internet access in Singapore," added Mr Ee.

"IDA welcomes StarHub's new broadband service offering and applauds its efforts to bring better value to broadband users in Singapore," said Mr Leong Keng Thai, Deputy Chief Executive and Director-General (Telecoms), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA). "As broadband adoption increases, we are encouraged to see higher speed offerings being made available to consumers. This supports IDA's goal to raise broadband adoption in Singapore and spurs market competition to the benefit of end-users," Mr Leong added.

New customers will be able to sign up for MaxOnline 6500 from tomorrow at any StarHub Shops or StarHub Exclusive Partners outlets islandwide, or simply call the Sales Subscription Hotline at 1630. They can enjoy the Home Networking promotion which comes with a Motorola cable modem, Linksys Wireless-G router¹ and USB adaptor or PC card. This integrated package is worth $670. More details on this MaxOnline promotion is available at www.starhub.com/online.

Notes

¹ The Linksys Wireless-G router is designed based on the upcoming 54 Mbps wireless networking standard that is about five times faster than the earlier generation of Wireless-B router. This will provide high access speeds within a home network such as fast file transfer between computers. The Linksys Wireless-G router together with the MaxOnline 6500 service which offers the highest residential broadband access speed in Singapore, makes an ideal home networking solution.

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Some of the statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" that do not directly or exclusively relate to historical facts. These forward-looking statements reflect our intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about future events and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside our control. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements include known and unknown risks. Because actual results could differ materially from our intentions, plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs about the future, you are urged to view all forward-looking statements contained in this news release with caution.