Circles.Life

Circles.Life
Private company
Industry Telecommunications
Founded Singapore (2014 (2014))
Headquarters Singapore
Area served
 Singapore
Key people
 Rameez Ansar
Abhishek Gupta
Adeel Najam
Services Mobile
Website www.circles.life
circles.asia

Circles.Life is a digital telecommunications operator, launched in Singapore in May 2016.[1] Circles.Life offers post-paid mobile services to customers.[2]

Circles.Life is a mobile virtual network operator that purchases bandwidth from M1.[3] It does not have physical distribution channels, and its retail business is based online, with couriers delivering the SIM cards and mobile phones bought through the telco.[4][5]

History

Circles.Life operates under Liberty Wireless, a Singapore-based mobile telecommunications company incorporated in 2014.[6] In July 2015, Liberty Wireless signed the first-ever wholesale agreement for post-paid service with M1 Limited. Circles.Life leverages M1's mobile network but is not affiliated. This enables Liberty Wireless to provide voice, messaging and data services to customers;[7] becoming the first mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) in Singapore to offer full service mobile network services.[8]

Following its success in Singapore, Liberty Wireless is looking towards expanding Circles.Life to Indonesia and Hong Kong in late 2017.[9]

Network coverage, products and services

Circles.Life operates as a mobile virtual network operator. It does not own a physical network, and instead, leases bandwidth from M1 at wholesale rates. It has a 4G+ outdoor coverage of 99.10%,[10][11] based on M1’s coverage.

Customers can register online and have their SIM card delivered to them within a few days,[12] as well as purchase mobile phones through the website.[13]

CirclesCare, a mobile application that allows customers to customise their plans through a personalised dashboard

Circles.Life offers a monthly-based mobile base plan that is similar to SIM-only plans.[14] Its services are heavily targeted at the data-savvy consumer segment which makes up 15 to 20 per cent of Singapore’s market.[15] The company has announced in March 2017 that they are targeting 4-6% of the Singapore market in the next few years.[16]

CirclesCare

CirclesCare is a mobile application that allows customers to customise their plan through a personalised dashboard.[17] It can also be used to track data usage and costs, and for customers to connect with the customer service team through a built-in customer care section.[18] Through this, Circles.Life hopes to eliminate the element of hidden charges that are known with existing telcos.[19]

Using the app, customers can request for future porting of their number with a transfer of ownership, set data roaming alerts and caps, update their personal and payment details, add on small increments of data and run speedtests to send to the Circles.Life team to improve network efficiency.[20]

Base Plan

Circles.Life offers one base plan starting from S$28 with no contract.[21] This includes free caller ID, unlimited Whatsapp usage (phone calls and messages do not use up data), 100 minutes of talktime (incoming and outgoing calls) and 6GB of data each month when a number is transferred through porting from rival telcos.[22]

Customers have the freedom to add on SMSes (S$4/100SMS), additional talktime (S$4/100 minutes) and extra data (S$6/1GB) at no customization fee. These customizations can be done upon initial sign-up or anytime, month by month, through the CirclesCare mobile app.[23]

Plus Options

Circles.Life offers Plus options that can be added on to existing Circles.Life base plans. They currently offer Unlimited Incoming Calls for an additional S$2 per month[24] and their newly unveiled Data Plus option, on March 7, 2017, gives customers the option to add 20GB of data for S$20, making them the largest no-contract data plan in Singapore.[25]

Unlimited Bonus Data

Customers are able to gain free additional data through referrals, loyalty bonus and port-in bonus.[26][27]

Circles.Life offered 10GB of bonus data to all customers over the five months following Singapore’s 51st National Day.[28] Users who joined the network in 2016 also received 1GB of additional data each month, which lasts until the end of June 2017.[29]

Installment Phone Purchase

With its partnerships with DBS / POSB and UOB, Circles.Life offers $0 upfront phone instalment plans with 0% interest rates for customers with DBS / POSB or UOB credit cards, who are looking to purchase devices.[30] These installment plans of 6, 12 or 24 months are available to customers at any time, as long as they have a Circles.Life plan.[31]

Termination

Circles.Life operates on a no-contract basis. Customers are not locked into a long-term contract, and can choose to terminate their plan without penalties.[32] Note: You need to stay for at least 2 billing cycles before terminating an account.

Partnerships

Circles.Life has several ongoing partnerships. They have partnered up with Whatsapp to offer unlimited Whatsapp calls and messages,[33] and with financial institutions and banks such as OCBC, DBS and UOB.

They have previously also partnered with Uber,[34] Grab,[35] Zalora and Lazada.[36]

Publicity

In 2017, Circles.Life made the news with their publicity stunt involving Singaporean internet influencer duo, Youtiao666. Circles.Life created SGMobile, a fake company touted as the next telco entering the Singapore market. In this endeavour, they created a Facebook page, a website and established billboard ads at a train station under the fake brand SGMobile. Social media personalities were then filmed vandalising these ads. The ads and publicity stunts were aimed at highlighting certain grievances that consumers have with existing telcos. Following this, Circles.Life revealed their new 20GB for $20 Data Plus option that customers can add onto their existing plans.[37][38]

References

  1. ↑ Ho, Victoria. "Singapore's fourth mobile operator launches with plans for the data-hungry". Mashable. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  2. ↑ "Telco wars heat up as new MVNO unveils pricing plans". Singapore Business Review. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  3. ↑ Goh, Melissa (17 July 2017). "Singapore's telco market may look saturated, but players are still vying to enter". CNBC.
  4. ↑ "Circles.Life, Singapore's 4th Telco Launches Today". Weekender Singapore. 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  5. ↑ "Circles.Life customers running in circles after complaints about services". TODAYonline.
  6. ↑ "New virtual telco Circles.Life offers free unlimited mobile data for WhatsApp users". The Straits Times. 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  7. ↑ "M1 backs Liberty Wireless' dream to be Singapore's newest MVNO". Singapore Business Review. 2015-07-09. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  8. ↑ Choudhury, Amit Roy. "Liberty Wireless signs deal with M1 to offer mobile services". The Business Times. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  9. ↑ Waring, Joseph (2017-03-08). "Circles.Life Targets Launches in Indonesia and HK". Mobile World Live. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  10. ↑ "New 4G MVNO launching in Singapore". Telecom Asia. Retrieved 2016-06-21.
  11. ↑ "Quality of Service Performance Results for July-September 2015 - Infocomm Media Development Authority". Base. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  12. ↑ Tung, Yon Heong (2016-06-29). "Circles.Life's new website goes live; adds unlimited bonus data, unlimited incoming calls offers". e27. Retrieved 2016-07-15.
  13. ↑ "Kimberly-Clark's innovation lab, Nera divests payments arm". DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  14. ↑ "Circles.Life VS Singtel, StarHub & M1 SIM Only Plans". www.superadrianme.com. 2016-05-06. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  15. ↑ "New telco launches in Singapore: no 2-year plans, no need to visit a store – ever". Tech in Asia. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  16. ↑ "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  17. ↑ "New 4G MVNO launching in Singapore". Telecom Asia. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  18. ↑ "Circles.Life is the new digital telco in town: Here's what you need to know". www.hardwarezone.com.sg. Retrieved 2016-06-22.
  19. ↑ "5 Reasons To Use New Telco Circles.Life Mobile Services". 2016-05-05. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  20. ↑ "Circles.Life | CirclesCare". Circles.Life. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  21. ↑ Choudhury, Amit Roy. "Circles.Life starts offering mobile plans". The Business Times.
  22. ↑ "Telecom Sector: Circles.Life announces pricing plan". sgx.i3investor.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  23. ↑ "Circles.Life is the new digital telco in town: Here's what you need to know". Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  24. ↑ "Circles.Life's new website goes live; adds unlimited bonus data, unlimited incoming calls offers". e27. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  25. ↑ "Circles.Life woos mobile data users with cheap 20GB add-on plan". Techgoondu. 2017-03-07. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  26. ↑ TeleGeography. "Singapore MVNO Circles.Life launches unlimited bonus data offer". telegeography.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  27. ↑ "New digital telco Circles.Life launches its Unlimited Bonus Data reward program". Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  28. ↑ "Circles.Life subscribers get free 10GB data in lieu of National Day celebrations". Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  29. ↑ "What is the New Year's Bonus Data Giveaway about?". Circles.Life Help Center. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  30. ↑ "Circles.Life offers a no-contract mobile plan for iPhone 7. Get up to 6GB data at $28/month | MoneyDigest.sg". www.moneydigest.sg. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  31. ↑ "PSA: Circles.Life's no-contract installment plans for iPhone 7 & 7 Plus are now available". Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  32. ↑ "New telco launches in Singapore. Promises full customization and contract free plans - Price Plan within". www.thetechrevolutionist.com. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  33. ↑ "Is The New Telco on the Block Going to Change the Scene for Singaporean Mobile Users?". MoneySmart.sg. 2016-05-16. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  34. ↑ "Telco Perks". Uber Singapore. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  35. ↑ "How Circles.Life aims to leapfrog Singapore telcos by appealing to internet-savvy users". e27. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  36. ↑ "Circles.Life | Partnerships". Circles.Life. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  37. ↑ Chan, Melissa (2017-03-08). "Circles.Life May Have Just Pulled Off The Publicity Stunt Of The Year With Youtiao666". Vulcan Post. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
  38. ↑ Tay, Vivienne. "Circles.Life Singapore vandalises "competitor" OOH assets". Marketing Interactive. Retrieved 2017-04-24.
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