Obligations on Licensed Telecommunications Operators Under Current Service and Resiliency Frameworks after Major Unplanned Disruption

16 Ms Elysa Chen asked the Minister for Digital Development and Information what explicit standards or expectations currently apply to licensed telecommunications operators in Singapore, under Infocomm Media Development Authority’s quality of service and resiliency frameworks, on how quickly they must restore mobile or broadband services after a major unplanned disruption, including any targets by duration or percentage of services restored.

Mrs Josephine Teo: My response will cover the questions raised by Ms Poh Li San, Dr Neo Kok Beng, Mr Ang Wei Neng, Mr Melvin Yong, and Ms Elysa Chen in today's Order Paper, as well as the questions filed by Ms Joan Pereira, Mr Gerald Giam, and Mr Alex Yeo for tomorrow's Sitting, relating to the recent Singtel service incidents and resilience of our telecommunication services. If the MPs are satisfied with the response, they may wish to withdraw their questions after this session.

Between 16 and 18 March 2026, Singtel experienced difficulties with its mobile service network. Based on preliminary reports, an incident on 16 March 2026 affected more than 600,000 Singtel mobile customers. While services were progressively recovered, the disruption lasted for about nine hours. The cause of the incident was attributed to a mechanical fault at one of Singtel's network facilities.

A separate incident reported on 17 March 2026 affected about 2,000 Singtel mobile customers and was attributed to a software bug from a planned IT system update.

On 18 March 2026, some Singtel mobile customers experienced intermittent connectivity issues during peak network traffic in the late afternoon. Singtel indicated that these issues were resolved within an hour.

The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is investigating the incidents. Thus far, there is no evidence that the incidents were due to cyber-attacks. IMDA is also investigating whether calls to emergency services were affected by the incidents, even though there are no such reports thus far.

I would like to assure Members that the Ministry of Digital Development and Information and IMDA take all service disruptions seriously and we recognise the concerns raised. Service providers are held to high service standards through the Telecommunications Act and the Telecom Service Resiliency Code. For example, service providers are required to ensure that service incidents are resolved within one hour, failing which IMDA may take enforcement actions and impose financial penalties. Among other measures, service providers are required to conduct regular audits on key telecom infrastructure for resilience. They are also required to uphold stringent quality of service standards, such as ensuring more than 99% nationwide outdoor mobile service coverage at all times.

While disruptions cannot always be prevented, IMDA requires key service providers, like Singtel, to put in place robust measures to contain their impact and ensure speedy recovery. This includes providing redundancies and failover systems for core network functions.

IMDA also regularly reviews its regulatory frameworks to ensure that they remain relevant. This includes updating regulations to protect our submarine cables in 2022 and to enhance the cyber security of key telecom operators in 2023. IMDA is reviewing telecom service resilience regulations to ensure they remain effective.

It has been about three weeks since the incidents. We note that Singtel has provided one-time rebates for affected mobile subscribers as part of their service recovery. In the meantime, IMDA's investigations are ongoing. It will publish its findings after investigations are completed and will not hesitate to take strong regulatory action should any lapses be identified. We also thank Members for their suggestions. These will be assessed for the ongoing review of telecom service resilience regulations, together with other suggestions that IMDA or the industry have put forward.