SINGAPORE, 9 March 2005 - M1 customers visiting Thailand and the Philippines, two popular destinations for Singaporeans, will be able to enjoy substantial savings on SMS, voice calls and GPRS from today with AsiaConnect.

AsiaConnect is a roaming flat-rate tariff plan that is being launched simultaneously by three members of the Asia Mobility Initiative (AMI) - M1 in Singapore, DTAC in Thailand and Smart in the Philippines.

Under AsiaConnect, customers of the three AMI member operators roaming in Singapore, Thailand and the Philippines are not charged for SMS (capped at 100 a month), pay a flat rate for calls and also enjoy a special rate for GPRS.

The rates are : US$0.25 per minute for calls to a local number (valid for Smart only), US$1.25 per minute for calls to the country of origin and US$0.005/kb for GPRS. These rates compare very favourably with the best rates available in each of these countries.

M1 customers roaming in the Philippines will, for example, save 44% based on the flat rate when they call home to Singapore. Those roaming in Thailand can save up to 60% on GPRS.
With AsiaConnect, customers roaming in both countries can also save up to S$60 per month with the free 100 SMS, as each SMS is charged at S$0.60.

To enjoy the AsiaConnect flat rates, M1 customers will have to ensure that they are logged on to the DTac and Smart networks when they roam in Thailand and the Philippines respectively.

Neil Montefiore, Chief Executive Officer of M1, said : "The AsiaConnect initiative is yet another example of the seamless cross border mobile services that we can offer our customers as a result of our participation in AMI. Such co-operation with our AMI partners not only adds value but also enhances the overall mobile experience of our customers when they travel in the region."

M1, Singapore's most exciting and innovative mobile and IDD service provider, was launched in April 1997. Since then, it has made significant inroads into the local mobile communications market, gaining considerable brand presence and market share. M1 aims to be the leader in personal voice and data communications, focusing on value, quality and customer service. More information on M1 is available at www.m1.com.sg.