This headline came up recently: SingTel chief calls for right to charge OTT challengers Skype and WhatsApp.
Then the Singapore internets went into a frenzy.
Just so we're clear (especially since there is hysteria coming from some well-known sites that feed on this stuff):
1. Singtel isn't asking users to pay for using WhatsApp.
2. The ‘WhatsApp Pass’ is a value-added service is for heavy Whatsapp users who are SingTel post-paid customers with limited or no-data plans at all. It's NOT a way to charge you for using WhatsApp.
3. What Singtel wants is WhatsApp to pay them for using their pipes (which may affect innovation, net neutrality, and ultimately, your wallet in many other ways).
Clear now? So if you want to hate Singtel, at least hate them for the right reasons, not the wrong ones.
