On 29th July 2015, M1 is the first telco to launch Singapore’s best value SIM-only mobile plans. M1’s mySIM value proposition is for Singapore consumers to have more flexibility over the smartphone they want to use, and how often they wish to upgrade it since there is no 2 years contractual lock in like the existing Phone bundled plans.
But is it truly as good as it claims to be? Lets look further in a quick comparison below. For discussion sake, I have chosen the lowest mySIM plan to compare to the closest Phone bundled plan (using the new iPhone handset sign up since it is one of the popular phone in the market).
Table 1 : Overview of the new M1’s mySIM Plans (source : M1’s website) 
* Highlighted in BLUE : Item under comparison * Highlighted in RED : Key difference(s) to note for the comparisons
Table 2 : Overview of existing M1’s iPhone bundled plans (source : M1’s website) 
Table 3 : Handset purchase cost for various iPhone bundled sign ups (source : M1’s online shop) 
Item 4: iPhone regular retail price (source : Official Apple online store) 
Summary of cost benefits analysis: 1. To match iPhone Plan (i-Reg) against the most basic mySim Plan (mySim 30):
i-Reg (with 4gb) + 1gb extra usage = $61+ $10 = $71 per month.
2. Rebate for new iPhone set purchase = $988 – $330 = $658 over 2 years or $329 for 1 year or $27.42 per month.
3. Price premium of i-Reg Plan excl iPhone set rebate = $71-27.42 = $43.58 per month.
4. For new lines, call ID rebate savings for i-Reg plan = 5 months x $5 = $25 or $2 per month.
Thus from cost perspective, the premium of i-Reg plan (with 1gb data top up) vs the comparable mySIM 30 plan, is $13 per month.
Extra benefits of i-Reg plan:
a. Higher 3G speeds
b. Youth (+1gb per month) & Senior benefits (+2 M1 numbers for free voice call)
c. Ability to add on data sharing via Surf Share Supplementary Plan
d. Extra savings of x5 months of Call ID service (valued at $2 per month for 1st year only)
e. Corporate discount (under CIES) is applicable (up to 25%) – e.g.in this analysis, the iReg cost will become $53.25 and will be cheaper than mySIM plan.
Extra Benefits of mySIM:
a. Shorter lock in period (12 months vs the 24 months of standard data plans)
b. No restriction in getting your desired handset
c. If you own M1’s fibre plan & other mobile lines under individual scheme, there could be further discount from Multi Lines Saver. But mySIM plans are not entitled for any Corporate plan discounts.
In conclusion,
a. Get the mySIM plan if
– you are currently not on Corporate Plan schemes (CIES) as the hefty 25% discount would make the i-Reg plan much more attractive from costs perspective. OR
– you are not prepared to be lock in for longer period (i.e 2 years)
b. Get the regular Phone bundled plan if
– you are under CIES corporate plan
– you need faster 3G speeds (though the actual throughput has yet to be tested)
For more information on M1’s mySIM plans, please visit M1’s mySIM information page.
To note: all data are accurate as at the point of compilation (1st Aug 2015).
All prices are quoted in Singapore Dollars (S$). To simplify computation, gst is not included in all payable values.
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