Simba saddled with $700k damages after Sentosa trespass ruling

High Court rejects claim that rooftop equipment could stay rent-free.

Simba Telecom has been ordered to pay Altitude Xperience $698,594.50 after the Singapore High Court found that the telco trespassed on space at its iFly Building in Sentosa following a dispute over a licence-fee payment.

The court rejected Simba’s argument that the $35,310 payment made in April 2020 was a goodwill payment to resolve the dispute or a transition payment as the spaces moved into a rent-free telecom facilities regime.

Instead, it found that the documents showed the payment was made against an invoice for licence and service fees covering the period from 20 September 2018 to 19 September 2019.

Altitude Xperience, formerly known as Skyventure VWT Singapore, leases the five-storey iFly Building, whilst the telco had installed mobile telecommunications equipment on its rooftop and ground floor from December 2017.

The parties initially had an oral arrangement and later entered into a backdated licence agreement covering the period from 21 December 2017 to 19 September 2018. Simba paid $5,770.40 for that period.

Justice Lee Seiu Kin found that there was no agreement allowing Simba to continue using the spaces after 20 September 2019.

The telco argued that it could remain there rent-free under Singapore’s telecom facilities code, but Altitude said the spaces did not qualify.

The Info-communications Media Development Authority had earlier found that the rooftop space was not unused space and did not have to be provided rent-free. Simba’s appeal to the Minister was later dismissed for being filed too late.

The court held that the group was not entitled to occupy the rooftop and ground floor spaces without paying. Its continued use of the spaces after 19 September 2019, therefore, amounted to trespass.

The damages awarded included $40,392.50 for the period from 20 September 2019 to 19 September 2020, $100,432 for the period from 20 September 2020 to 23 July 2023, and $557,770 for the period from 24 July 2023 to the end of 2025.

The people you want to reach are already in this room.

Every quarter, SBR lands on the desks of the founders, CFOs, and directors running Asia's most consequential companies. Every day, they open our newsletter and read our website. It's a room that took twenty years to build — and it's the one most of our partners are trying to get into.

The good news is that the door is open. We work with companies on thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. The shape of the right partnership depends on what you're trying to do, which is why we'd rather start with a conversation than send a rate card.

If you have something this room should know about, tell us. We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how.

No rate cards until we understand the brief. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia