Choosinng Cable TV, Internet, Phone, Mobile Contracts in Singapore

I discovered it little late. So would like the people to understand this concept very well when they try to subscribe to any New Cable TV, Internet, Mobile, or Land Phone services from any of the companies in Singapore.

Being coming from India the concepts from getting into contracts for new subscriptions was little new to me.

For all the above services there are several companies like :

1. Starhub - http://www.starhub.com - Mainly for Cable TV
2. M1 - http://www.m1.com.sg/ - Phone + Internet
3. Singtel - http://www.singtel.com.sg - Phone + Internet

All the companies run "promotions" all the time. So this is very important to know that these companies run it all the time. They offer lot of discounts/gifts etc when they run promotions, one needs to choose between the discount & gifts they offer.

So points to remember before you finalize your contract with any of these companies :

• Research well to to understand which service you want & who is the best provider in your area
  
• Always look for best option in order to minimise the contract period & penalty in event of you breaking the contract
• Generally the contract is for 12 or 24 months
• The 24 months contracts is always better sometimes & offer maximum gifts like even Laptops in some cases !!
• Try to understand your need & subscribe based on that, not on the based on what you are getting as a part of contract ..e.g. One company is giving away Laptop(they say worth $1500) for your 24 months contract with them for taking 3 services(Cable TV+Internet+Phone). But if you break the contract within 24 months, you might have to pay $1000 back :) ..So decide what you want...
• Look for your needs - e.g. You want to make more local calls or IDD Calls.
• Some companies will offer Free IDD calls to India, USA etc for a fixed minimum rental per month. So if you are going to make more calls to that IDD destination make use of this facility.
• Generally breaking the contract is never profitable :(
• Never rush for the promotional offer or discounts, there is always something hidden in it. So take your time & then go for it.

Some more general Information for these services :

• Starhub Cable TV has only 3 Hindi Channels - Star Plus, Zee TV, Sony
• Internet Services by Starhub is advertised at upto 6000 kpbs speed. So it might vary, it is not a dedicated speed.
• Singtel promises to provide better Broadband than Starhub - I have personally not used it.
• Generally - the Local calls are charged at .15 cents per minute
• IDD to India from Starhub mobile is expensive, instead buy a calling card which gives upto 80 minutes for $10 value
• M1 has a 384 kpbs anywhere wireless broadband service which is cheaper & good if your Internet usage is not much : http://m1.com.sg/broadband/m1bb.htm

Disclaimer : The above points are written by me based on my own experience & may change depending on the offer going on by the company at any given time. So please check the offer before deciding.