You should already know this – that the iPhone 5 uses nano sim cards.

If you don’t already know what is that, it’s the card the allows you to use the phone with your selected network.

But here’s the important bit, especially if you already have an existing sim card – You DO NOT need to get a new one. If your current card is too big for your new phone, you can cut it down to size. You can either do it yourself, preferably with specific tools, or you can visit most mobile accessory stores and have them cut it for you for a small fee, like $5, usually less.

So why do I claim that local telcos, especially Singtel, are cheating iPhone 5 customers? This is because they have made it a policy that if you want to upgrade to an iPhone 5, you MUST buy a new sim card, which is $32.10, even if you already have an existing one.

I say ‘maybe’ Starhub and M1 because I’m not a customer, have only heard of the experience and have never verified the claim. Please let me know if they have similar policies.

Now, it’s ok to pay for it if it’s a matter of convenience, or if you just want to be super safe. My problem with this is that you are forced to do it, with double standards no less.

Their excuse is that you can’t use the iPhone 5 unless you have a nano sim. True. But here’s the funny thing – I recently helped my sister upgrade to a new Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE. She had the standard size sim card while the new phone uses the micro sim. I have the tools to do the trimming myself, so no problems, but if Singtel was truly consistent with their practices, then why didn’t they make me buy a micro sim for that phone?

Then here they are, telling me that I MUST buy a nano sim because I want an iPhone 5.

Here’s what this is – a cheap way to earn $31.20 more from the iPhone 5 customer. I believe most people use subscribe to a $39.90 postpaid plan, so that’s like squeezing another month of subscription fees from the iPhone 5 consumer. You have to remember, the manufacturing costs for sim cards are now dirt cheap. You can get OEM sim cards for less than US$1 each, and that’s for low volume orders of about 1000 pieces.

If I don’t already have a sim card, I really want to use a specific phone and it costs $100 to buy the right sim card for it, I will pay $100 for it. Heck, I’ll pay a fine if I screw up and broke the sim card myself and have to get a new one as a result. But, if I don’t need a new card, don’t be a prick and force me to pay for something I don’t need just because you want a cheap way to earn some extra cash from an iPhone 5 user.