IDA issues stern warning to Singtel post Gushcloud saga

The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) has issued a stern warning to Singtel for its role in a marketing campaign against its competitors M1 and StarHub, done by the marketing agency Gushcloud.The warning came in following the closure of IDA’s investigation into the issue of a leaked social brief sent from Singtel to Gushcloud for an alleged smear campaign. Singtel has since fired Gushcloud amidst the controversy.According to IDA’s press release, it said it was “disappointed that such marketing tactics have been employed by Singtel.”It added: “IDA has always encouraged licensees to compete by promoting the availability, price and quality of their own services, and not by disparaging those of their competitors.”Read also: Content marketing lessons from the Singtel-Gushcloud sagaASAS, Gushcloud to work on industry-wide influencer guidelines after Singtel sagaIt has made it clear that IDA “will not tolerate such practices.” Singtel is now required to include necessary measures in order to prevent such incidents from happening in the future. These measures should ensure appropriate management oversight and control over its marketing and advertising campaigns.Singtel is also warned against “adopting publicity practices or campaigns that may potentially bring disrepute to the telecommunication industry,” IDA said.