Following the recent announcement of M1 Limited's rebranding to drive transformation, the company is delivering on its goal to rejuvenate Singapore's telecommunications landscape. Featuring a selection of made-to-measure Bespoke plans, these directly address customer demand for personalisation and flexibility. With this fresh, customer-first approach, M1 stands true to its name of being Singapore's first digital network operator.

Made-to-Measure Mobile Plans

M1's new Bespoke mobile plans aim to meet customers' desire for greater personalisation. Whether looking for a mobile device or a suitable plan, these three made-to-measure offerings – Bespoke Flexi, Bespoke SIM-only, and Bespoke Contract – can be customised to fit individual needs.

Bespoke Flexi provides customers with greater flexibility in every respect, as they can dictate their upfront device payment and choose to settle their balance between 12 and 36 months. With no strings attached, users now have the freedom to upgrade or downgrade their plan whenever they want. Also, customers can change their monthly data and talk time either in-store or using the My M1+ app without fear of encountering any early termination or admin fees.

M1's Bespoke SIM-only mobile plan offers customers an adaptable, contract-free experience. With the ability to change plans from month-to-month, users can take full advantage of M1's latest products. Plus, customers using the M1+ app now have a convenient slider to balance their data, talk time and price on the fly.

Finally, Bespoke Contract's updated data bundles provide customers with even more value as the new base plan includes 20GB. Alongside three fresh add-ons, customers can build a plan suited to their budget and needs.

Be Free with M1

M1 has launched the first stories from the 'Be' campaign in conjunction with their re-energised mobile plans. Featuring seven Singaporeans with an unmistakable drive to tread their own path, this campaign reflects the spirit of individuality that M1 wants to celebrate. Across Singapore's BYOBottle movement founder, a guitar-shredding grandma and one of the world's top doll collectors, in collaboration with M1, these personal tales highlight the importance of freedom and having the confidence to simply be who you are.

Advancing Singapore's Digital Landscape

Supported by a tech-focused transformation both in-store and via its mobile app, M1's reinvigorated nature is already evolving the digital landscape for its customers, changing how Singaporeans engage with telecommunications.

About M1

M1, a subsidiary of Keppel Corporation, is Singapore's first digital network operator, providing a suite of communications services, including mobile, fixed line and fibre offerings, to over two million customers. Since the launch of its commercial services in 1997, M1 has achieved many firsts – becoming one of the first operators to be awarded one of Singapore's two nationwide 5G standalone network license, 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.

Singapore is home to an exciting sustainable energy industry, and the city’s innovative research and development (R&D) in this sector aims to tackle today’s global issues head on. Leading global research into renewable energy, Singapore is also a great place for testing out new ideas, with some of the world’s most exciting green architecture and eco-friendly initiatives, like buses with green roofs, receiving support from the government in their policies. Singapore’s government aims to transform the country into a Smart Nation, powered by the latest digital technology, and an important aspect of this is the sustainability of new innovations. The clean energy future of Singapore is likely one that rests upon the continued digitalisation of Singaporean society.

Research and Development (R&D)

Singapore aims to be a global leader in renewable energy R&D, and in the past few years has rolled out an exciting lineup of new clean innovations, something that’s set to continue. In 2018, they won the Renewable Energy category at the ASEAN Energy Awards with their floating solar power testbed in Tengeh Reservoir - making double use of this piece of infrastructure, both for supplying water and generating energy. The equatorial location of Singapore makes solar power an ideal path of growth, and the city has pledged to raise its solar capacity significantly in the coming years.

Infrastructure investment

Another way Singapore is upgrading its infrastructure is the number of electric vehicles able to operate on its transport network. It aims to move its entire bus fleet into electric or hybrid vehicles by 2040, and currently is well on its way to this goal. In order to support personal use of electric vehicles, a national charging network is currently being laid out, with 2,000 charging points connecting to this all over the island. As well as privately owned electric cars, BlueSG is a joint initiative between a private sector company, Bollore Group, and Singapore’s government, and anyone can use this service to rent electric cars for easy transport. The electric charging network not only supports electric vehicles, but also building owners and clean energy use at home. When homes switch to smart metre use and thermostats, they are able to more efficiently use energy, and the network of battery and grid energy can be best calibrated to save energy in the long term.

Private sector support

Apple has recently changed its operations to be powered solely by clean energy, as are many multinational companies, and Singapore’s goal to be a global business hub motivates the country to take the renewable energy needs of the global private sector into account. In Singapore, the companies Sunseap and Sembcorp are taking matters into their hands too, and with the support of the government are turning several of their buildings into power generators, by fitting their properties with solar panels. So far, the companies have identified over 210 different sites to roll out this new initiative.

Reducing reliance on imported fuels

While Singapore has a fairly clean and efficient power infrastructure, a significant challenge has continued to be its reliance on imported fuels. Due to its small size, until now 95% of power generated is sourced from imported natural gas, and this issue is further exacerbated by the small size of its energy system, which means its heavily affected by changes in supply and demand. Moving to a digital energy infrastructure manages the latter issue, while switching over to local renewable energy sources, such as solar power, means that the country is less reliant on imports, creating a win-win situation where both economic fluctuations are levelled out and environmentally friendly power sources are accommodated.

The years ahead are bound to see a slew of exciting renewable energy projects come to fruition across Singapore. From new research into solar energy and how it can be integrated, often seamlessly, into the cities infrastructure and architecture, to a focus on sustainable transport and catering for its citizens home energy needs in the best way possible, Singapore has proven itself to be one of the most exciting hubs for clean energy innovation, and this trend is set to continue.

Singapore’s goal of becoming a Smart Nation has made it one of the most exciting examples of innovative urban architecture and infrastructure. From island-wide 5G to artificial intelligence (AI) managed retail stores, a huge number of initiatives have focused on achieving progress using new technologies. As well as this, a growing amount of research and development (R&D) into digitalisation has meant new ideas are created regularly, which combined with the government and private sector’s focus on smart technology, have meant the island has become a regional powerhouse for digital innovation.

In 2019, the government in Singapore pledged to spend 1% of annual GDP on smart tech research and development, as part of its Research, Innovation and Enterprise plan (RIE 2020.) One aspect of this that is underway is their National Digital Identity project (NDI), which aims to store a centralised biometric information system of Singapore citizens, including fingerprint and iris scans and facial and voice records. Another innovation is its unified QR code payment systems, which connects with multiple payment schemes, from GrabPay to NETS, creating a national e-payment system which can be used in hawker centres, canteens and coffee shops all over the city.

As part of the RIE 2020 plan, the government is also rolling out an autonomous vehicle infrastructure system, paving the way for self-driving cars to form part of the country’s transport network. The first self-driving car was approved for road testing in 2015, and since then, private companies have collaborated with the government, with the startup nuTonomy testing on Singapore’s roads in 2016. More recently, an autonomous shuttle bus has been moving students at Nanyang Technological University over a 500 metre route - and has been successfully moving up to 300 people every day. Huge leaps have been made in this AI technology in the last five years, and this is set to continue into the future.

As well as the country’s famous fintech ecosystem, the government is aiming to grow the startup economy of Singapore. In particular, it aims to create an artificial intelligence (AI) hub on the island, by creating a data science consortium and by investing a large amount into an AI research and development program. As part of this, they have also created national AI training schemes, which allow 12,000 Singaporeans to grow new and highly sought after tech skills over the next three years. Not only will this increase global private sector interest into the country, but it will also help to move Singapore along to its Smart Nation goals, by innovating new smart technologies which can be rolled out island-wide.

The increase in e-commerce demand has caused brick-and-mortar stores to suffer in Singapore over the past few years. However, the use of AI is a great way to counteract this and boost the city’s retail economy. While e-commerce stores are able to significantly track customers, spending habits and to analyse shopping trends, if the ability to do this is made possible in physical shops, it will give more power back into the hands of traditional-style shopkeepers.

The use of inbuilt smart tech in stores can provide accurate and real-time information about customers, enabling managers to track conversion rates, campaign effectiveness and staff efficiency. AI computer vision technology can track footfall and therefore capture customer demographics in order to optimise marketing campaigns, shop inventory and preferences. The benefits of online retail are brought into an offline space.

Over the past ten years, the smart tech industry in Singapore has come along in huge leaps and bounds. In addition to this, the focus on new AI innovations, with a huge commitment to funding new developments, means there’s no doubt the industry will continue to grow in the years to come. Singapore has been highly effective in problem-solving using the capabilities of this growing technology, and in the near future we may see offline, brick-and-mortar retail stores giving e-commerce shops a run for their money, autonomous vehicles on the city’s streets and a growing AI industry that could make Singapore a global leader in tech innovation.

There's no end of exciting new problem-solving startups popping up in Singapore. Focusing on alleviating social issues and providing solutions to age-old problems with new technology, these social enterprises are set to change the fabric of Singaporean society in the best way possible. From training underprivileged local women, enabling them to build new skills, to environmentally focused brands which promote eco-friendly initiatives like plastic use reduction, there's no shortage of new companies to support.

The Kint Story (photo)

Set up by millennial superwomen Yushu Huang and Elisa Goh, The Kint Story tackles a huge issue in Singapore - the amount of textile waste that's thrown away. In 2018, only 6% of all textile waste was recycled, so the entrepreneurs took this into their own hands. They founded e-commerce startup The Kint Story, which brands itself as an online thrift store, selling second-hand clothes with a twist - the donors are fashion influencers, creating a unique story behind each of the items sold. Using a unique narrative in order to increase the appeal of second hand fashion, The Kint Story is set to expand to include regional markets in the near future.

Bettr Barista

Merging together the growing demand for artisan coffee with the needs of marginalised communities, Bettr Barista is a coffee academy and roastery which offers three to six month barista training schemes. With women attending the course ranging from age 15 to 50, social workers refer potential trainees to the programme, who then build up their coffee-skills, as well as participating in therapy sessions, a paid internship with the scheme's cafe partners and around 52-hours worth of organised physical activities, from yoga to canoeing. The scheme also operates using the government's SkillsFuture training scheme, which offers all Singapore citizens credits to use towards gaining new skills, in everything from IT to engineering.

SDI Academy

A huge issue that recent migrants to Singapore face is the language barrier. With English as the main language used in businesses and in offices, many blue-collar workers and recent regional migrants face difficulties in finding work due to their language skills. SDI Academy is a social enterprise that aims to solve this issue by running free English classes and courses in other employment and entrepreneurial skills in order to help new citizens integrate into Singaporean society and increase their wellbeing. Founded by Sazzad Hossain, who initially arrived in Singapore from Bangladesh without English skills, this startup has changed the lives of thousands of people, and is set to continue to empower its participants in the same manner that Sazzad experienced himself.

hello flowers!

The rustic bouquets and wreaths that hello flowers! produces are made in a special way. Describing itself as a social enterprise floral studio, the founder Annie worked previously as a social worker, helping families who have experienced violence, and this opened her eyes to what she could achieve through her work. The florists she employs and trains are those who are unable to work fulltime for various reasons, including poor health conditions and lack of education. A firm believer in the therapeutic effects of nature, hello flowers! kills two birds with one stone, empowering women and helping to improve their wellbeing, while also improving the wellbeing of the people who purchase their beautifully crafted products.

Seastainable Co.

Small business Seastainable Co. is an award-winning social enterprise and start up which promotes ethical textiles, fashion and jewellery. Supporting marine conservation efforts around Singapore and Southeast Asia, the company also works in Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. They push their initiatives in multiple ways, from channelling their profits into local grassroots environmental organizations, and encouraging people to reduce their plastic consumption. The company produces eco-friendly products only, from metal straws to plastic-free utensils sets. Founded by Samantha Thian, who had previously worked in the marine conservation field in Singapore and the Philippines, the company has contributed over $30,000 to conservation programmes across five countries.