In a response to an inquiry from Channel NewsAsia, SingTel said that it would not charge its customers for OTT services like WhatsApp. Over-the-top (OTT) services have become popular nowadays that has cut revenues from different mobile phone providers.

In a clarifying statement, a spokesperson from SingTel said that its group CEO Chua Sock Koong, had called on regulators to let telecoms charge OTT players for network usage and not their clients.

Earlier this week, Chua spoke at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona were she warned of cutting down investments to SingTel's subsidiary, Optus if regulators would not allow OTT charges to be paid by competitors like WhatsApp for network usage.

SingTel invested around SGD1 billion in Optus, the second biggest telecom services provider in Australia last year.

Meanwhile, WhatsApp has 450 million global users and is continuing growth as its offer free messaging service. However, the popularity of OTT services had cut revenues from telecoms SMS services and phone calls.