Singapore – In a bid to launch a new mobile communication experience for the professionals, managers, executives, and technicians (PMETs) sector, telco startup Gorilla has recently launched in Singapore to feature the first-ever service-on-demand model for a telco in the country. and first.
The said model provides access to a full suite of services, anytime–without a contract, subscription fees or activation charges. Users pay only for what they use, when they use it, ensuring a fair and modular way of using and paying for mobile services.
Complementing Gorilla’s model of fairness and user-centricity is its proprietary SwitchBack technology, powered by blockchain. Gorilla’s SwitchBack enables users to fully ‘switch back’ unused mobile data to offset their bills, purchase or exchange for other in-app services, or simply share it with their co-workers and team members.
Unlike other telcos, there is no expiry for unused data. This sets Gorilla Mobile apart from its peers and further demonstrates its commitment to fair mobile solutions, designed with users in mind.
Customers can sign up for Gorilla Mobile’s Switch25 Mobile plan through the Gorilla Mobile website. In the coming months, the company will be unveiling new services including a global roaming travel data SIM card, digital international direct dialing (IDD) and global office telephony solutions.
In addition, Gorilla Mobile has rolled out the #RethinkMobile pre-launch campaign on its website – calling on Singaporeans to look at their mobile phone bills and examine their mobile package subscription and actual usage: what they are paying for versus what they actually use.
The Switch25 Mobile plan costs S$25 and is available to all Singapore registered companies, Singaporeans, permanent residents, EPass, EntrePass, and SPass holders aged 21 and above. From 18 June to 18 August, new customers, both individuals, and businesses, are entitled to a Bill Difference Reward of up to S$50 per mobile number, credited directly to their PayNow account upon successful port-in.
Gorilla Mobile will lean on local telco M1 as its host mobile network operator, leveraging its wide network coverage, and local telco MyRepublic‘s enterprise operating support system and business support system (OSS/BSS) telecommunications solution and managed services.
Xanne Leo, founder and CEO at Gorilla, notes that with their service-on-demand model, they have digitized their services, moving beyond customized or flexible subscriptions. They believe users should have easy access to mobile services anytime, anywhere, and pay only for the services they use.
“Our SwitchBack feature can be compared to the Singapore Parking app. Users pay only for their parking duration and get refunded for their unused time. Through SwitchBack, unused data never goes to waste. Its value gets reallocated to offset, purchase or exchange for other Gorilla services,” she stated.
Leo also shared the sentiment of many companies who are once again turning to work-from-home arrangements under the recent tightened COVID-19 measures. She added that the current workforce, now relying on their home Wi-Fi most of the day, has large amounts of unused mobile data each month.
“Gorilla Mobile’s suite of services, especially our local plan, are developed with the needs of Singapore’s working professionals at heart. We are committed to providing fair mobile solutions to ensure our customers enjoy the benefits at maximum value. While many of our peers offer customised and flexible plans, which predict or assume a customer’s monthly usage, we charge them solely on their actual use,” Xanne added.
She further explained, “As we are still in our pre-launch phase, gradually bringing our full services to the market, we welcome users to try our service and share their valuable feedback with us as we strengthen our offerings and roll out more services to better cater to their needs.”
To empower its service, Gorilla has secured US$3m of seed capital and is set to raise US$5m in its upcoming Series A funding. The funds will be used to develop its product roadmap and for market expansion across Southeast Asia, with initial rollouts in Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The company will enter Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Korea and Taiwan in the longer-term.
