A purple rocket fires up the little red dot

LIVING up to its logo of a rocket, Singapore's newest telco MyRepublic has fired up the competition in the fibre broadband market. In January last year, the company launched an affordable 1Gbps broadband plan - an ultra-fast connection that had rivals playing catch-up. At $49.99 a month, it was cheaper than similar plans from other retailers. It is also shooting to shake up the market by promising unlimited data deals that are currently unavailable.

MyRepublic has certainly made an impact since it was set up in 2012. Just two years ago, Singapore was 14th in fixed broadband affordability worldwide. A year after MyRepublic launched its 1Gbps service, however, it shot up to third spot, reveals its Singapore managing director Yap Yong Teck. "This was a huge success and will only serve to benefit the consumers in Singapore with prices coming down in the market," says Mr Yap.

MyRepublic has been described as a David versus Goliath story, a small upstart that is taking on the big telco companies. Its three founders - Greg Mittman, Malcolm Rodrigues, and KC Lai - were senior management executives with experience in the telecommunications sector. They left their jobs to pursue an opportunity created by the Nationwide Broadband Network (NBN), a government project to build an ultra high-speed fibre broadband network.