Singapore is ranked the second most connected country in the world. On average every Singaporean has 1.5 mobile phones, but yet at the same time there are underprivileged people in the country who still aren’t connected, creating a growing digital divide.

As a telco, StarHub's first and foremost promise is to connect people - all people. So, for its 4G launch campaign, we turned its 4G service into a 4Good platform and empowered subscribers to connect the underprivileged.

Instead of just making a donation as part of StarHub's Corporate Social Responsibility, we turned the act of charity into a mobile activation campaign, and called on StarHub's customers to respond and to help.

StarHub, a telco, wanted to launch its new 4th generation (4G) mobile network. This technology is hyped to be the future of mobile, so much so that it is termed LTE – the long-term evolution of mobile tech. Considering StarHub's competitors launched their 4G networks earlier, we wanted to differentiate StarHub and help it stand for something more. Because if this technology has the potential to change the world, shouldn’t we change the way we look at it? What if the G in 4G meant more than just another generation?

In just the first month alone, over seven thousand customers responsed to the the campaign and opted in to the movement – pledging over 720,000 minutes, 3 million SMSes and 9 terabytes worth of 4G data in total. This translates into 500 days worth of talktime, 12 months of online video learning* and 344 years of SMSes**. (*Based on streaming online videos at 1080p **Based on Business Insider’s median average of 726 SMSes sent per month.)

Instead of just launching a 4G(eneration) mobile service, we launched a 4G(ood) mobile network. For the first time in telecommunications, customers were given the power and option to donate their unused and leftover data, minutes and SMSes to charity – instead of just letting them lapse and go to waste every month.

All customers needed to do was opt in via a simple SMS. The data, minutes and SMSes collected were then encoded into prepaid SIM cards and donated to charities including Asian Women’s Welfare Association, Cerebral Palsy Alliance, Society for the Physically Disabled and Association of the Visually Handicapped. Also, we started a charity drive that encouraged customers to donate their used mobiles to our adopted charities, empowering the disadvantaged with mobile devices as well as connectivity.