FROM today, Singtel customers have the option of doubling their mobile data allowance at a fixed additional cost of $5.90 a month.

Customers can sign up for the plan at the IT Show 2016, which opens today at the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre, or at any Singtel retail outlet.

The new add-on plan, DataX2, applies to those who sign up or re-contract for two years with the telco.

For instance, those on its $62.90 Combo 3 plan can pay $5.90 more every month to double their mobile data allowance to 6GB. Comparable subscription plans from M1 and StarHub cost more than $80 a month.

At the four-day IT Show, which is organised by Singapore Press Holdings’ unit Exhibits Inc, consumers can also indicate their interest in fibre broadband operator MyRepublic’s mobile plans.

MyRepublic said it will charge consumers as little as $8 a month for a mobile plan, should it succeed in becoming the fourth telco here. The cheapest comparable plan in the market costs about $20.

Its broadband customers will get a better deal at $6 a month.

However, this plan comes with only 2GB of mobile data and a chargeable add-on SMS and voice service.

The company will also roll out an unlimited data plan for $80 a month. Competing telcos do not have unlimited plans, with larger data bundles of 12GB and more costing more than $100 a month.

A spokesman for MyRepublic said the move is intended to “provide insight into the different approach MyRepublic looks to take, should we become successful in our upcoming mobility bid”.

However, Clement Teo, a senior analyst at market research firm Forrester, said: “It is a bit premature for MyRepublic to announce plans even before they get a telco licence.”

Consumers can also sign up for M1’s new Smart Activity Monitoring service aimed at helping caregivers keep track of their elderly wards.

The telco will install one motion sensor or door sensor and a panic button in customers’ homes for a one-time fee of $214. The service costs $14.66 per month.

lting@sph.com.sg

Additional reporting by Lester Hio

Get MyPaper for more stories.

A 44-year-old delivery man who has been living on his lorry with his pregnant wife hopes to rent a room in time for his baby.

For Wang Baohua, his lorry is both his means of living and his home, Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao reported yesterday.

He had split from his ex-wife seven years ago and sold his three-room flat before going to Vietnam to work.

He returned to Singapore in 2013 and stayed with an uncle for some time before moving into a rental apartment. However, his monthly salary of $1,000 was not enough to pay the rent of $600.

He started living on his lorry to save on costs and got his new Vietnamese wife, whom he married in August last year, to share in his nomadic life on wheels.

Wanbao visited Mr Wang at the Changi Beach Park on Tuesday and found that the pair’s “furniture” included a portable stove, cooking utensils and cutlery, cardboard that doubled as a bed and laundry that was hung out to dry on the vehicle.

The couple sleep on the back of the lorry every night and wash up at a nearby public toilet.

Mr Wang starts his job delivering goods at 3am and his wife follows him on his journeys.

He said his boss is very understanding and lets him live on his lorry, even offering to lend him $10,000 to buy a house.

He is thankful to his boss and his colleagues who have been “very helpful”.

As his wife is four months pregnant, Mr Wang hopes to rent a flat but has been unsuccessful so far.

He said some landlords do not let them cook in the house while others do not welcome pregnant women.

“So we decided to save the money and use it on gynaecologist fees,” he added.

Mr Wang had also tried applying for a two-room or rental flat from the Housing Board but was rejected as his spouse is a foreigner and his $1,900 salary does not fit the rental-flat requirements.

“We can bear hardship but my wife is already four months pregnant and it’s not very convenient for her to climb up and down. Now, we just hope that our baby will have a comfortable home when he’s born,” said Mr Wang.

His wife told Wanbao that she was already aware of his situation before she came here and that she “doesn’t mind” because she loves him.

Mr Wang added: “Even though we do not have much, in terms of material things, we are satisfied as long as we have each other.”

myp@sph.com.sg