With a continual focus on network quality, customer service, value and innovation, M1 links anyone and anything; anytime, anywhere.

Company overview

M1 is Singapore's most vibrant and dynamic communications company, providing mobile and fixed services to over 2.0 million customers. Established in 1997, M1 achieved many firsts, including the first operator to offer nationwide 4G service, as well as ultra high-speed fixed broadband, fixed voice and other services on the Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (NGNBN). With a continual focus on network quality, customer service, value and innovation, M1 links anyone and anything; anytime, anywhere.

The Group holds Facilities-Based Operator and Services-Based Operator licences issued by the Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA), for the provision of telecommunication systems and services, as well as a Telecommunication Dealer's Class Licence. We also hold Internet Access Service Provider and IPTV licences issued by the Media Development Authority.

We operate nationwide 4G, 3G/High Speed Packet Access (HSPA) and 2G mobile networks. Our networks, capable of download speeds of up to 75Mbps and upload speeds of up to 37.5Mbps, provide customers a wide range of voice, data and value-added services. We offer customers service plans with a choice of data bundles to meet their varied needs.

For international call services, we offer mobile and fixed-line customers International Direct Dial (IDD) services using prefixes 002 and 021, and an International Calling Card service using prefix 1818. M1 also trades wholesale voice minutes with other international and local service providers.

In the fixed services segment, M1 offers residential customers a range of broadband services with speeds ranging from 10Mbps to 1Gbps, including fixed voice and other value-added services.

For corporate customers, we provide an extensive suite of connectivity, managed and data centre services, as well as cloud-based solutions such as enterprise software as a service. These enterprise services are supported by specialised teams who also provide customers with seamless migration from their legacy networks to the NGNBN.

The following are key milestones in our history:

• Commercial launch of mobile services in April 1997;
• Achievement of 10% mobile market share within one month of launch, and profitability in the first full year of operations in 1998;
• Listing on the Singapore Exchange in December 2002; and
• First operator in Singapore to launch:
• 3G mobile services commercially in February 2005;
• Islandwide mobile broadband services in December 2006;
• Fibre services commercially on the NGNBN in September 2010;
• Mobile broadband service on our 4G network in June 2011;
• Nationwide 4G service in September 2012.

Operating revenue for FY2012 increased 1.1% to S$1,076.8 million, driven by higher service revenue which grew 2.8% to S$771.6 million. On a segmental basis, mobile telecommunications revenue increased 3.3% to S$607.0 million, while fixed services revenue increased 25.7% to S$48.1 million. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) was S$299.9 million, representing a margin of 38.9% on service revenue. Net profit after tax decreased 10.7% to S$146.5 million, with margin on service revenue at 19.0% compared to 21.9% in the previous year. Free cash flow was S$152.3 million.

As at 31 December 2012, M1 had a total of 2,109,000 mobile customers, comprising 1,095,000 postpaid and 1,014,000 prepaid customers. This represents an overall market share of 26.1% of the Singapore mobile customer base. In the fibre broadband segment, M1 had 52,000 customers, an increase of 30,000 from the year before.

Market developments

According to IDA's published statistics as at 31 December 2012, Singapore's mobile penetration rate was 151.8%, a 2.2 percentage points increase compared to the previous year. Out of a total of 8,062,800 mobile subscriptions, 4,265,700 or 52.9% were postpaid customers, and 3,797,100 or 47.1% were prepaid customers.

For the fixed broadband market, the residential broadband penetration rate rose 2.9 percentage points to 107.3% as at 31 December 2012. Over the year, cable and digital subscriber line customers fell by 6.0% to 638,500 and 18.3% to 443,000 respectively, while residential and corporate fibre customers increased by 183.1% to 279,100.

In September 2012, M1 launched Singapore's first nationwide 4G mobile service, offering our customers download speeds of up to 75Mbps and upload speeds of up to 37.5Mbps on a variety of smartphones, tablets and other devices. Popular 4G devices launched include the Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S III LTE, Samsung Note 2 LTE and fourth generation Apple iPads. Customers' reception to our 4G service has been positive since the launch and as at end-2012, M1 remained the only Singapore operator with nationwide 4G coverage.

M1 also introduced new mobile service plans with tiered data bundles in September 2012. These plans cater to our customers' different data usage requirements and reduce the impact of a minority of heavy data users affecting the experience of the majority of our customers. This will improve the overall mobile Internet experience and allow us to better manage our customers' bandwidth usage against limited network resources.

Postpaid mobile

The mobile segment remains M1's core business and the key contributor to our operating revenue. Over the year, our postpaid customer base grew by 49,000 to 1,095,000. This segment, which made up 51.9% of our total mobile customer base, contributed 87.2% of our mobile telecommunications revenue in 2012.

Smartphones and tablet penetration continued to grow last year, with smartphone users making up 75% of our postpaid customer base as at 31 December 2012, an 8 percentage points increase from 67% in 2011. Contribution from non-voice services increased to 37.6% of service revenue in 2012, compared to 35.6% in 2011.

M1's nationwide 4G network, launched on 15 September 2012, gives our customers unparalleled access to rich multimedia applications such as high definition video streaming and online games, as well as faster access to enterprise and cloud applications for our corporate customers. We were also the first operator to introduce a 4G roaming service and by end-2012, our customers travelling to Hong Kong and South Korea were able to enjoy 4G roaming.

A week before the launch of our nationwide 4G service, live demonstrations were held at our Paragon M1 Shop outlet to allow customers to experience the benefits of faster access speeds.

In conjunction with our 4G launch, we introduced new smartphone and mobile broadband service plans for both 4G and 3G customers. These plans come with tiered data bundles of 2GB to 12GB per month, with excess data usage priced affordably.

Throughout the year, M1 worked closely with various device manufacturers to bring in their latest handsets and tablets so as to provide customers with a wide range of choices.

On 29 May 2012, we held a special launch event for the Samsung Galaxy S III, at which more than 400 sets were sold within three hours. On 21 September 2012, the Apple iPhone 5, which is compatible with our 4G network, was made available at our M1 Shop outlets and exclusive distributors. This was followed by the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S III LTE and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 LTE handsets. During the fourth quarter, we also saw the launch of several 4G tablets, such as the Apple iPad mini, the fourth generation Apple iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1 LTE.

The enhanced user experience on our 4G network, and the timely introduction of these highly-anticipated 4G devices shortly after the launch of our 4G service, accelerated adoption and enabled M1 to sign up 146,000 4G postpaid customers by 31 December 2012.

Prepaid mobile

The prepaid mobile segment continued to be highly competitive in 2012. During the year, we grew our prepaid customer base by 45,000 to 1,014,000, driven by various marketing campaigns and promotions. These include:

• The introduction of a new Super $55 top-up denomination, and an increased activation bonus on our M Card with every $18 top-up;
• Launch of M1's prepaid BlackBerry service to cater to the needs of inbound visitors. There are four service plans with prices ranging from S$5 for a one-day plan, to S$20 for 30 days;
• Singapore's first prepaid nanoSIM card, which was made available as a standalone product, as well as bundled with the then-newly launched Apple iPhone 5;
• A prepaid SunSurf data plan giving smartphone users an attractive pay-as-you-use prepaid option, with 1GB of data usable over seven days for S$7.

Over the year, we also stepped up our outreach efforts to several nationality segments, such as Indonesians and Filipinos, with targeted IDD rate revisions, sponsorships and roadshow promotions.

Fixed services

With the NGNBN achieving 95% coverage in 2012, fibre services continued to gain traction with both residential and corporate customers.

Over the year, M1 worked with various stakeholders to streamline the NGNBN fibre service activation process, and added 30,000 customers to bring our total fibre customer base to 52,000.

Our residential fibre packages include benefits such as having no cap on international bandwidth and complimentary fixed voice service with unlimited local calls. To complement our existing remote technical assistance service, we introduced an on-site technical support service in May 2012. As part of this value-added service, M1 technicians will help residential fibre customers set up or troubleshoot their home broadband network.

Several new fibre services designed to cater to the needs of customers with specific requirements were made available in 2012. These include a fibre plan on a shorter 12-month contract, dedicated plans for online gaming enthusiasts, and a special promotion for senior citizens with complimentary installation and technical support services for their home network.

Singapore's quarterly computer and consumer electronics shows – the IT Show, the PC Show, Comex and Sitex – saw a strong M1 presence with attractive offers and promotions for our fixed services. We also participated in The Games Xpo show in September 2012 to promote our GamePro service.

In the corporate space, we continued to expand our suite of enterprise fixed services. In addition to our existing network migration, cloud and managed services offerings, a number of new services were introduced in 2012, including enterprise software as a service and mobile device management services. In November 2012, we achieved the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification (Information Security Management) for the provision of our cloud services. The ISO/IEC 27001:2005 certification's stringent security controls and regulatory compliance requirements enhance our offerings to customers operating in regulated industries including government agencies and financial institutions.

Products and services

We launched the following exciting and innovative services in 2012:

• GamePro fibre broadband plans: This fibre service, specially designed to cater to the needs of the online gaming enthusiast community, offers faster speeds and a lower latency connection to enhance our customers' online gaming experience;
• M1 Prepaid MasterCard: Singapore's first telecommunications-related multipurpose prepaid card rewards customers with a 10% bonus to M Card top-ups. The M1 Prepaid MasterCard, a Merit Award winner at the Singapore Ministry of Transport Awards 2012, can also be used as an EZ Link card and as a credit card for online and contactless payments. More than 5,000 cards are currently in circulation;
• Roam Buddy mobile data usage alert service: This service, launched in September 2012, helps customers better manage roaming usage. The free service will send an alert to our customers when their data usage has reached a pre-selected limit;
• 4G service: Our dual-band nationwide4G network, operating in the 1800MHz and 2600MHz spectrum bands, offers street-level and in-building coverage. Customers on this network can enjoy typical download speeds at fixed locations ranging from 10.3Mbps to 21.6Mbps;
• Smartphone and mobile data plans with tiered data bundles: M1's smartphone and mobile broadband service plans were revised in conjunction with our 4G service launch. Entry-level plans start with 2GB of bundled data, and re-contracting M1 customers will enjoy an additional 1GB of complimentary data;
• M1 Learning Centre: Our dedicated e-learning store for Apple iPads and Android tablets offers 1,500 e-books and 12,000 multimedia titles suitable for a wide range of users, from pre-Primary learners to adults. The e-learning content for pre-Primary, Primary and Secondary school students, is closely aligned with Singapore's educational syllabus. There is also an extensive range of content for adult learners on a variety of topics, such as property investment and self-improvement.

Sales and distribution

As at 31 December 2012, M1 had a network of 14 operator-owned retail shops (M1 Shop), including our flagship Paragon M1 Shop outlet in Orchard Road, and a number of operator-appointed distributor outlets, to serve our customers.

In December 2012, we added our 14^th M1 Shop outlet, located at the Causeway Point shopping mall. Customers who prefer the convenience of online shopping have the option of visiting our e-shop (www.m1shop.com.sg), which sells a wide range of mobile devices and accessories. We also have a dedicated enterprise sales team to serve the needs of our corporate customers.

Brand

A new brand campaign, with the theme "The World's Different with A Friendly Telco", was launched in July 2012 to reinforce our strong customer-centric focus. The integrated campaign was carried on TV, newspapers, outdoor media, as well as new media channels via websites and social media.

This campaign won the Gold Award for Excellence in Integrated Marketing (Consumer) at the Marketing Excellence Awards in November 2012. The Marketing Excellence Awards is Singapore's premier accolade that recognises excellence in marketing communications in the services industry. M1's win is testament to the innovativeness and success of our brand campaign last year.

The M1 brand received a further boost with the launch of our nationwide 4G network in September 2012. Leveraging on the same theme, our 4G campaign showcased M1's ultra high-speed nationwide network and the new possibilities that higher speeds can bring to customers.

Customer service

In 2012, M1 continued to lead in the Customer Satisfaction Index¹ (CSISG) for the mobile telecom industry for the third consecutive year, with a score of 68.0% compared to the industry's average score of 66.3%. Our M1 Shop at Changi Airport Terminal 3 also won an Outstanding Outlet Award in the third quarter of 2012. The Award, given out by airport operator Changi Airport Group, recognises retail outlets that have gone the extra mile for customers.

During the year, we invested in staff training, customer support services such as our new on-site technical support service, and process improvements with the upgrade of our Billing & Customer Care system. These initiatives have further enhanced our ability to serve customers.

¹ The CSISG, first launched in 2008, is a comprehensive, independent qualitative multi-sector study on customer service developed by the Singapore Workforce Development Agency and the Singapore Management University's Institute of Service Excellence

Network

In the lead-up to the introduction of our nationwide 4G network in September 2012, we progressively expanded our 4G coverage sites, and conducted extensive network optimisation and detailed interoperability tests on a variety of smart devices.

This groundwork led to the successful launch of Southeast Asia's first nationwide 4G service, which offers typical download speeds of 10.3Mbps to 21.6Mbps at fixed locations.

During the year, we continued to optimise and enhance our networks to add capacity, increase coverage and further strengthen resiliency.

The capacity of our 3G and HSPA networks were expanded, to support customers' growing mobile data requirements. We also completed the deployment of our new International Gateway softswitch in the first half of 2012 to enable faster and more flexible traffic routing for international links and connectivity.

Our backhaul transmission network, which comprises fibre rings and high capacity microwave radio links, was further upgraded. This enables us to carry close to 85% of our total backhaul traffic on our own network as at end-2012, thereby increasing our self-provisioning capability and containing our operating expenses.

In the fixed segment, we added more capacity to our active and fixed voice networks to cater to growth in our fibre customer base, and further strengthen network resiliency.