Singapore MVNO Offers Public Transit Riders Free Data

Singapore mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), Circles.Life, is offering public transit riders free data of up to 1GB a month.

The new service was the result of a partnership with EZ-Link, which issued contactless payment cards used widely by commuters and as a payment option at more than 30,000 locations, including convenience stores, fast food outlets, and taxis.

Circles.Life said it was offering 100MB free data for every 10 rides taken using EZ-Link cards and an additional 1GB a month for Circles.Life customers who linked their mobile number to their EZ-Link account via the latter's app.

The MVNO said customers who signed up for the new service would automatically receive the data top-up each month for six months. They will need to set up an EZ-link account via the app, which is available on both Google's Play Store and Apple's App Store.

Slated to commence end-May 2018, the new offering was part of Circles.Life's efforts to offer "integrated" services through tie-ups with market players across different verticals. Its co-founder Abhishek Gupta said: "As the only fully digital telco in Singapore, we aim to digitise the nation one vertical at a time."

The country's three telcos--M1, StarHub, and Singtel--in 2016 began offering NFC-enabled services that enabled public transit commuters to pay for their fares using their smartphones. This involved the use of NFC SIM cards, which were embedded with the EZ-Link purse that supported Singapore's own standard Contactless e-Purse Application (CePAS).

Mobile users also could use their device to pay for other services that support EZ-Link payments.