CARDPHONES (Particulars)

Dr Lee Siew-Choh asked the Minister for Communications and Information how many phonecards are sold per month; how many have been sold as at the latest convenient date; whether he is aware of the inconvenience phonecards have caused to the public; and, if so, if he will ask the Telecommunication Authority of Singapore to reconsider their usage.

The Senior Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Communications and Information (Mr Ho Kah Leong) (for the Minister for Communications and Information): Mr Speaker, Sir, I am answering on behalf of my Minister.

Sir, cardphones are gaining widespread popularity, with sales of phonecards increasing month by month. I have asked the Clerk of Parliament to distribute a table (Cols. 661 - 662) showing the sales data for Members. I think copies of the table are with Members by now. table - Phonecard Sales, Jan - Jul 89 (Cols.661 - 662)

Sir, you will notice from the table that in June and July 1989 about 140,000 cards were sold each month, almost double the number sold in January. The total number of cards sold in the first seven months of this year is about 820,000 (ie one card for every three Singaporeans), a clear indication of their convenience and popularity. The NCMP is thus mistaken.

Sir, the use of cardphones is a technological advance which is happening worldwide. There are advantages to the consumer.

Firstly, there is less vandalism of cardphones compared to coinphones which invite theft and damage, and hence are often out of order, causing inconvenience to potential users.

Secondly, coinphones are also more labour-intensive to operate and maintain, and hence susceptible to increases in charges to recover cost as wages go up.

Thirdly, cardphones are especially convenient for long and long-distance calls compared with coinphones, where large quantities of coins are required for such calls.

Because of its inconvenience, the coinphone is being phased out worldwide, especially in developed countries.

In introducing the cardphone, Singapore Telecoms has made every effort to ensure that the switchover from coinphones does not inconvenience the public.

Today, 5% of the public telephones are cardphones. Where there are cardphones, there is also a coinphone nearby. The public therefore is not inconvenienced.

In its replacement programme, Singapore Telecoms has also planned for the ease of purchase of phonecards and a wide choice of values of phonecards ranging from $2 to $50 to meet the different needs of users.

Dr Lee Siew-Choh (Non-Constituency Member): Does the Government realise that there are people who do not buy these phonecards? They have great difficulty in using phones when they have to queue up for the single coinphone?

Mr Ho Kah Leong: Sir, the trouble with the NCMP is that he thinks the world works the way he fancies. In my reply, it is very clear that the cardphones are gaining popularity among our population. Even after the coinphones are phased out, the public who do not buy the cardphones can still use coinaphones, which are widely available in Singapore. So the public will not be inconvenienced.