A new telecom company has been launched in Singapore. call Gorilla MobileIt targets PMETs (professionals, managers, executives and technicians), as well as local and global businesses.
In a briefing earlier today, Gorilla Mobile founder and CEO Xanne Leo said the telecom company hopes to revolutionize the industry with Singapore’s first on-demand service model and the unique SwitchBack feature.
“All carriers simply assume that everyone wants and needs more data. However, we’ve discovered that’s not true,” Zahn said.
With Gorilla Mobile, users pay only for what they use to ensure a fair and standard way of using and paying for mobile services.
She explained more about the on-demand service model, likening it to Netflix where the user pays a fixed monthly subscription fee to access all kinds of TV shows and movies in different genres and languages.
(Think of it as) Netflix will offer a flexible and customizable package so that you can have a more personalized experience. All you have to do is tell me, at the beginning of each month, how many comedies you will watch and how many hours of horror movies you think you will consume in that month.
If you do not select documentaries, they will not appear on your profile at all. It’s all really easy and flexible because you can change the whole batch for the next month with just a click of a button. (For) most of us, this probably won’t translate into a very good user experience, but that’s exactly what’s happening in the telecom space right now.
– Xanne Leo, founder and CEO of Gorilla Mobile
She sees this as a “highly demanding model”, requiring users to have expert knowledge of features and benefits in order to be able to make an informed decision. It also assumes that all users can accurately predict their usage and consumption.
This is why Gorilla Mobile chose to take a different approach and build and deliver its services in a digital way.
“They are all accessible and readily available on the mobile app for our users 24/7, and you only pay for what you use,” Xanne said.
She added that their signature is the SwitchBack feature, which is powered by blockchain technology. It is basically an automatic toggle function that allows users to convert unused mobile data into digital tokens, known as Gorilla Go Tokens, which are powered by Ethereum.
These tokens – which have no expiration date – can then be used to offset future bills, redeem other mobile services, or shared with others such as colleagues, including those overseas.
Our SwitchBack feature can be compared to Singapore Parking app. Users only pay for their parking duration and get a refund for the unused time. With SwitchBack, unused data is not in vain. Its value is reallocated to compensate, purchase, or replace other Gorilla services.
– Xanne Leo, founder and CEO of Gorilla Mobile
Exclusive features unique to small and medium businesses
“Our formula (our) is focused on the SME and SME market,” Zhan emphasized.
In the pre-pandemic period, she noted, many businessmen in this market tend to travel a lot for work. With the Covid-19 shutdown, business trips have been suspended and many have switched to working from home – which also means they are connected to WiFi most of the time.
Therefore, Gorilla Mobile wants to take full advantage of this untapped mobile data and turn it into something that can be of value to the users.
I also noted that the post-pandemic situation also requires some of our workforce to make international calls on their cell phones at home, or are required to receive outside calls on their cell phones at home because they do not have access to the equipped office lines. It is integrated with IDD call capability.
“Gorilla Mobile’s entire suite of mobile solutions has been digitized so that you can easily access this on your mobile app. We built it to work from home, work from the office, or work from any (type) situation. … I believe our solutions should To also be different to meet (changing needs).”
The Switch25 mobile plan starts at S$25 per month for 20GB of mobile data, 100 minutes of talk time, and 100 SMS (Short Message Service).
By comparing its plan with those of other carriers, Xanne acknowledged that it “is not the most advanced plan, but also not the most basic plan available on the market.”
The fact that Gorilla Mobile offers exclusive features that are unique to SMBs, such as auto bill compensation and team engagement functionality, is also illustrated.
“(Take) for example a company that has 50 or 100 mobile phone lines. All 100 lines that have unused mobile data each month, will be automatically transferred to one company account. This will make accounting and financing a lot easier for these companies.”
In addition, it offers to share data with anyone, regardless of whether they are on different carriers.
“Data sharing (usually) only applies to a specific data sharing plan, and this should only be shared with Supplementary Lines or Supplementary Lines under subscribers. Our unlimited sharing functionality allows you to share any amount with anyone at any time — it doesn’t have to be The same subscriber or to have a fixed limit.
Is there room for a new telecom operator in S’pore?
The telecom market in Singapore is already quite saturated with Gorilla Mobile taking its place as the thirteenth telecom operator here.
With such intense competition, how exactly is Gorilla Mobile preparing to capture market share in Singapore?
When you have a commodity homogeneous product, the quickest and easiest way to compete is actually to lower prices. This usually occurs when there is a lack of innovation or no longer exists, and it usually also indicates the end of the technological age.
– Xanne Leo, founder and CEO of Gorilla Mobile
Now that we are moving into the 5G era, Xanne strongly believes that there will be more exciting developments in communications.
According to their findings, when significant levels of innovation and technological advancement occur, consumers will move away from price and begin to focus on service differentiation.
“I believe Gorilla Mobile has unparalleled innovative service for PMETs and SMEs today, we have a better model, we have better service and we provide a better experience.”
Gorilla Mobile started as a travel SIM card company in 2019. Their plans to launch travel roaming data cards in May 2020 were stymied due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so they had to switch their business and hub plans.
Xanne recognizes that Singapore is a saturated market, and for her, the “gold strategy” is to create a niche product or service, or target specific market segments. Innovation is also key.
“In Singapore, we’re looking at 2.5 million PMETs and about 200,000 SMEs – that’s really where we’d like to take a slice of the pie,” she said.
She added that Gorilla Mobile has secured collaborations and connected with several business associations such as Enterprise Singapore and Singapore Business Federation, so she hopes this will help give them the network and a point of market entry.
Gorilla Mobile is incorporated with an initial capital of $3 million and is set to raise another $5 million in Series A funding. The funds will be used to develop its product roadmap and to expand the market across Southeast Asia.
They are looking to launch in Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam next, before exploring expansion into Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, Korea and Taiwan for the long term.
In the coming months, the company will also unveil new services including a SIM card for global travel and data roaming, International Digital Direct Dialing (IDD), and global office telephony solutions.
Customers wishing to subscribe to Gorilla Mobile’s Switch25 Mobile plan can be found on its website. The plan is available to all Singapore registered businesses, Singaporeans, permanent residents, EPass, EntrePass and SPass holders aged 21 and over.
From June 18 to August 18, new customers, both individual and corporate, are also entitled to a bill difference bonus of up to S$50 per mobile number, credited directly to their PayNow account upon successful transfer.
“As we are still in the pre-launch stage, gradually bringing our full services to market, we welcome users to try our service and share their valuable feedback with us as we enhance our offerings and roll out more services to better meet their needs,” summed Xanne.
Featured image credit: Gorilla Mobile / Geek Culture
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