MyRepublic
MyRepublic is a multinational Internet company headquartered in Singapore. The company was formed to leverage Singapore's Next Generation Nationwide Broadband Network (Next Gen NBN). Since its launch in 2011, the company has expanded to Australia, New Zealand and Indonesia. MyRepublic primarily offers fibre broadband services, in all four countries, as well as ADSL plans in Australia, VDSL services in New Zealand, and cable TV packages in Indonesia. The company has a combined subscriber base of 200,000 across the four countries.
![]() | |
Private | |
Industry | Telecommunication |
Founded | 2011 |
Headquarters | |
Areas served | |
Key people | |
Services |
|
Number of employees | Approximately 230 |
Website | myrepublic |
History
MyRepublic was launched on February 16, 2012 by Malcolm Rodrigues, a former Vice President of StarHub International and Wholesale; KC Lai, a former StarHub Senior VP of Consumer Sales; and Greg Mittman, previously a lead of Alcatel-Lucent's National Broadband Network Team. The company launched with fibre internet plans offering speeds of up to 150 Mbit/s.
In 2012, the company had 32 full-time staff in its employ, 450 resellers of their services, around 10,000 subscribers and more than SGD $5 million in revenue. Rodrigues attributed the growth of the company to its “thin operator model” which does not rely on costly legacy infrastructure.[5] In February, the company launched GAMER packages, becoming the first Internet service provider in Singapore to offer fibre broadband plans specifically catered towards gamers.[6]
In 2013, MyRepublic launched Teleport, a VPN-like service, which allowed users to stream content from online services from around the world like Hulu, Pandora, Netflix and BBC iPlayer using non-traditional VPN methods.[7] The company also opened its flagship store at Ang Mo Kio Hub.[8] By then, MyRepublic held a 17 percent market share of the fibre broadband consumer market and established itself in a short time as a disruptive influence.[9]
In January 2014, MyRepublic launched its 1 Gbit/s fibre broadband plan, a move which made Singapore the world's first country to offer 1 Gbit/s on a nationwide basis.[10] At $49.99 per month, the plan was eight times cheaper than local telecommunications companies,M1 Limited and StarHub, were then offering. The introduction of this plan initiated heavy price competition amongst the telecommunications companies, and by year end, both M1 and Singtel lowered their 1 Gbit/s fibre broadband plans to price points similar to of MyRepublic.[11] MyRepublic also announced its entry into the New Zealand ISP market.[12]
In June, MyRepublic declared its interest in being Singapore's fourth telecommunications company, with plans for a 4G mobile plan with unlimited data.[13] MyRepublic submitted documents in response to a call for proposal by the IMDA on ways to increase the competitiveness of the mobile market and optimized usage of the radio spectrum.
In July 2015, MyRepublic launched services in Indonesia at an initial nine locations.[14] Later in May, the company announced the launch of Singapore's first ever 1 Gbit/s no contract fiber broadband plan.[15]
In September, the company raised US$16 million in a funding round led by Brunei telecommunications major DST Communications.[16]
In October, MyRepublic held a Mobility Trial as part of IMDA's trial of HetNet, or heterogeneous network, in Jurong Lake District. The trial was limited to 1,000 trial users and confined to certain areas such as malls, public housing blocks, bus interchange and MRT train station.[17]
In 2016, MyRepublic launched MySDN, its first enterprise connectivity service, available to customers across the region, including Singapore, Indonesia, and New Zealand.[18]
In November, MyRepublic launched in Australia with plans offering 100 Mbit/s download speeds and no data limits for a flat rate of AU $59.95 per month.[19] The Australian launch did not go smoothly, with reports in local media indicating significant customer disappointment at the download speeds and service of connection.[20]
Following up from their declaration of interest back in 2014, the company officially submitted its bid for the New Entrant Spectrum Auction (NESA) to become Singapore's 4th telecommunication company in September, along with two other companies, Australian telecommunication company TPG Telecom and airYotta.[21] Out of the three companies, only TPG and MyRepublic were assessed to be a pre-qualified candidates for the New Entrant Spectrum Auction (NESA). In December, the results of the auction were announced, where TPG Telecom outbid MyRepublic to win the 4th telecommunication company grant.[22]
By 1 September, MyRepublic had 150 employees and 60,000 fibre broadband subscribers in Singapore.
In 2017, the company announced it would launch 1 Gbit/s National Broadband Network (NBN) services throughout Wollongong.[23]
In May, there was news that the company was looking for private equity backing to bid for the Singaporean Telecommunication company M1. This would allow the company to get back into the Singapore telecommunication companies race after losing the bid to become Singapore's fourth telecommunication company to TPG group.[24]
References
- "MyRepublic". MyRepublic.
- "MyRepublic New Zealand". MyRepublic.
- "MyRepublic Indonesia". MyRepublic.
- "MyRepublic Australia". MyRepublic.
- Horwitz, Josh (2014-05-09). "For MyRepublic CEO Malcolm Rodrigues, telcom is a beautiful business". Tech in Asia. Tech in Asia. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Sim, Andy (2012-12-05). "MyRepublic Upgrades GAMER Fiber Broadband Plan to 150Mbps". Hardwarezone. Hardwarezone. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Goh, Daniel (2013-01-03). "[Singapore] MyRepublic Continues To Disrupt Telco Industry With Teleport". Young Upstarts. Young Upstarts. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Hou, Joy (2013-02-02). "MyRepublic Celebrates Local Flagship Store Opening". Hardwarezone. Hardwarezone. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Tan, Vanessa (2013-03-01). "MyRepublic Disrupts Singapore Telco Business, Launches Teleport Service to Access Hulu, iPlayer". Tech in Asia. Tech in Asia. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- "Singapore's cheapest 1Gbps broadband service unveiled". TODAYonline. TODAYonline. 2014-01-14. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Tan, Wei Zhen (2014-09-12). "Price war breaks out among telcos". TODAYonline. TODAYonline. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Hou, Joy (2014-01-23). "MyRepublic Enters New Zealand Ultra-Fast Broadband Market". Hardwarezone. Hardwarezone. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Lee, Terence (2014-06-24). "Unlimited mobile data plan? MyRepublic wants to make it happen, if Singapore government allows". Tech In Asia. Tech in Asia. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Bushell-Embling, Dylan (2015-07-03). "Singapore's MyRepublic launches in Indonesia". Telecom Asia. Telecom Asia. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Koh, Wanzi (2015-05-13). "MyRepublic launches Singapore's first 1Gbps no-contract fiber broadband plan". Hardwarezone. Hardwarezone. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Yap, Shiwen (2015-09-25). "MyRepublic raises $16m, aims to become Singapore's 4th telco". DealStreetAsia. DealStreetAsia. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Tham, Irene (2015-10-23). "MyRepublic starts 4G trials as part of bid for fourth telco licence". The Straits Times. The Straits Times. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Ng, Chong Seng (2016-03-02). "MyRepublic launches MySDN Cloud VPN, aims to disrupt traditional WAN solutions market". Hardwarezone. Hardwarezone. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Lui, Spandas (2016-11-04). "MyRepublic Unleashes 100Mbps Unlimited NBN Broadband For $59.95 Per Month". Lifehacker Australia. Lifehacker Australia. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Han, Esther (2016-12-06). "MyRepublic NBN broadband provider angering many new customers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2017-11-22.
- "MyRepublic, airYotta, TPG Telecom submit bids to become Singapore's 4th telco". Channel NewsAsia. Channel NewsAsia. 2016-09-01. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Ting, Lisabel (2016-12-15). "TPG Telecom beats MyRepublic to win fourth telco bid". The Straits Times. The Straits Times. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Reichert, Corinne (2017-06-02). "MyRepublic to launch 1Gbps NBN service in Wollongong". ZDNet. ZDNet. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- "Tech in Asia - Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem". www.techinasia.com. Retrieved 2017-06-14.