``This value for money initiative will save SingTel Mobile customers some S$90 million on an annual basis,'' the firm said in a statement.

More than 700,000 SingTel Mobile subscribers from Monday will get the first 12 seconds of incoming calls free and 50 per cent off existing rates for outgoing local calls made during designated hours.

SingTel has announced a series of cuts to various fixed line, international direct dial and integrated services digital network (ISDN) rates worth S$420 million in recent months.

It has faced stiff competition in the mobile market since MobileOne launched its monopoly-breaking service on April 1, 1997. The new firm says it has taken more than 20 per cent of the market and aims for a 35 per cent share by 2000.

Both firms will be up against another newentrant, StarHub, from April 1 next year.