SingTel plans acquisition in China and US (Singapore)
Leading telecom operator in Singapore, SingTel has hinted towards acquiring businesses in China or US, to make up or slow growth in its domestic market.
As per a statement made by the company, SingTel may raise its stakes in associates in Asia and Africa and make other strategic investments. The company reported a 30 percent jump in fourth-quarter profit. Net income climbed to $1 billion in the three months ended March 31.
Chief Executive Officer Chua Sock Koong, said that when they look at acquiring the technology know how in the start up space, they could be looking at quite a few different places. She added that it could be startups in Silicon Valley, California or in countries such as India and China.
The company added that group revenue at the Singapore and Australia operations are forecast to grow at low single-digit rates this year while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization may be stable. Further, dividends from associates in Asia and Africa are expected to grow.
SingTel Group’s mobile customer base reaches 445 million (Singapore)
Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) announced that the Group posted another quarter of strong growth in customer acquisitions. As at 31 March 2012, the Group had a total mobile customer base of 445 million, an increase of 11 per cent or 42.9 million from a year ago.
Airtel’s total mobile customer base reached 241 million as at 31 March 2012, an increase of 29.2 million or 14 per cent from a year ago. In India, Airtel’s mobile customer base grew by 19.1 million or 12 per cent to 181 million. During the quarter, Airtel introduced ‘Airtel Money’, India’s first telco-led mobile wallet service on a nationwide basis.
In Africa, Airtel had a total mobile customer base of 53.1 million, an increase of 8.9 million or 20 per cent. In the quarter, Airtel expanded the rollout of its 3G services to five more countries in Africa: Ghana, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania.
Telkomsel’s total mobile customer base stood at 110 million, up 10.5 million or 11 per cent. Its market share was at approximately 43.3 per cent as at 31 March 2012, up 0.4 percentage point from a quarter ago.
Optus continued its postpaid customer growth momentum with net additions of 82,000 this quarter which included a one-off reduction of 33,000 to a wholesale service provider’s customer base. Excluding this adjustment, postpaid customer net additions this quarter were 115,000.
Prepaid customers were stable at 4.29 million. Net additions for the full year were 421,000, bringing Optus’ total mobile customer base to 9.49 million, up 5 per cent from a year ago. Postpaid customers comprised 55 per cent of the total base, up 2 percentage points from a year ago.
The number of 3G customers increased to 6.63 million, a 6 per cent increase from a quarter ago. This included a base of 1.58 million wireless broadband customers, an increase of 23 per cent from a year ago.
In Singapore, SingTel further grew its market leadership to 45.9 per cent. Its total mobile customer base grew by 273,000 customers or 8.3 per cent from a year ago to 3.58 million as at 31 March 2012.
Full year net additions in the postpaid segment were 171,000 customers, lifting total postpaid customer base by 9.6 per cent to 1.95 million. The growth was driven by increasing demand for smartphones and data SIMs from integrated mobile broadband bundles.
In the prepaid segment, SingTel’s customer base grew by 102,000 customers or 6.7 per cent to 1.63 million, led by strong demand for 3G offerings such as 3G SIM, data and Blackberry value added services. SingTel continues to drive data usage among prepaid customers, empowering them with faster Internet access at lower costs with the introduction of ‘Opera Mini Browser’.
SingTel to strengthen position in India (Singapore,India)
SingTel Global (India) is looking to strengthen its presence in India by building five more Point of Presence (PoPs) within the next two years.
According to reports, Arun Dagar, MD, SingTel India, said that they may come up with 5 more PoPs (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Chandigarh and two more cities) in the next 2 years depending on the growing demand. They are seeing demand for global connectivity in pharmaceutical companies. By 2014, they are planning to expand it to five more cities and double their workforce.
Donny Cheah, regional managing director, said that they are focusing on Indian businesses who are expanding globally especially into the APAC region for they have the managed connectivity infrastructure in place besides experienced people who are well versed with local business environment and languages.
SingTel divests its entire stake in Far EasTone (Singapore)
Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) announced that it has divested its entire 3.98 per cent equity interest in Taiwan’s Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd.
A total of 129,571,696 shares were sold at an average price of $2.1 per share, for a cash consideration of approximately $272.8 million. The transaction was by way of an on-market sale. SingTel will recognise a gain of approximately $95 million in the first quarter ending 30 June 2012.
StarHub partners with Vodafone for improved data roaming services (Singapore, UK)
StarHub, Singapore’s leading mobile operator has partnered with British giant Vodafone, to offer customers better roaming services. According to reports, the deal will enable StarHub customers to avail more affordable data roaming rates while travelling to certain European countries along with New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.
Reports reveal that the new cost includes US$ 20 for the first 20 MB of international data and US$ 2.4 per MB of additional roaming data browsed after reaching the daily cap. StarHub has said that the improved data roaming rates are offered to travellers whilst in Albania, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, Turkey, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa.
The move follows the statement made by Neil Montefiore, chief executive officer, StarHub, where he claimed that mobile data rates were very high and needed to be reconsidered. He said that four out of five StarHub mobile users currently disable data when overseas, due to the exorbitant charges. He also claimed that too many operators refuse to cut their rates as they make so much money from international data roaming. Montefiore also said that the situation needs to change and that the mobile industry needs to see the wider opportunity presented here.
SingTel announces plans to revamp organisation (Singapore)
Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today announced a new organisation structure to capture emerging opportunities in a new era, as customer usage behaviours and preferences evolve rapidly with the proliferation of new devices, content and technology.
With a scale of over 400 million mobile customers, strong customer relationships and knowledge as well as extensive touch points, SingTel seeks to leverage these unique assets to develop relevant and differentiated services to customers and drive growth in the new era.
The new organisation structure will support the Group’s key objectives of reinventing SingTel’s core carriage business, creating and driving new growth platforms that leverage and strengthen the core and turbo-charging SingTel’s regional capabilities in ICT services.
Comprising three units, the new structure reflects the Group’s re-alignment of people and resources by customer segments. It will also sustain growth, competitiveness and innovation into the future. The new structure takes effect on 1 April 2012.
Group Consumer, led by Mr Paul O’Sullivan, will focus on setting new benchmarks in customer experience as the leading provider of next-generation communication, infotainment and technology services to consumers and small businesses across Asia Pacific. The unit consolidates all consumer-related functions and includes the Group’s international business in the emerging markets, allowing it to fully leverage the scale of its more than 400 million mobile customers.
Group Digital L!fe, headed by Mr Allen Lew, will lead the Group’s journey to becoming a leading player in the digital ecosystem, beyond connecting voices to bringing people together with innovative and cutting-edge digital services. This unit will complement the Group’s consumer offerings with state-of-the-art digital services through bundles and add-ons. Mr Lew and his team also carry a strong mandate to serve customers and other industry players globally.
Group ICT brings together all enterprise-related business units and will focus on providing ICT solutions to serve the Group’s enterprise customers, offering innovative and comprehensive IT and telecommunications solutions across multiple geographies. Mr Lew will be the covering CEO as the Group searches internally and externally to fill the position.
Ms Chua Sock Koong, SingTel Group CEO, said that SingTel has a long history of quietly, but successfully, making bold and industry-shaping investments. They now see some of the largest and most exciting opportunities that have ever existed in this industry. The changes to how they organise themselves are necessary in order to align the people and resources to sharpen their focus and take advantage of these opportunities.
StarHub appoints Mobixell for Data Traffic Management (Singapore, USA)
Leading global provider of intelligent mobile Internet solutions, Mobixell Networks, has been appointed by StarHub, Singapore’s fully-integrated info-communication company, for mobile data traffic management solution. Mobixell Seamless Access was chosen by StarHub to reduce costs and enable introduction of new and futuristic services, such as video optimization, personalized advertising and content filtering, for the next generation mobile internet.
The popularity of the iPhone and other smartphones amongst StarHub’s mobile subscribers has already seen an increase in data and video traffic on StarHub’s mobile data network. As per the company, mobile data traffic is predicted to double globally every year, increasing 39 times between 2009 and 2014, reaching 3.5 Exabytes per month by 2014.
As the rate of data traffic growth rises, implementing Mobixell Seamless Access ensures that StarHub’s customers can continue to enjoy a high quality mobile Internet and mobile video streaming experience. Mobixell Seamless Access maximizes user experience through its field-proven expertise in developing technologies for superior video experience, continuous no-buffer video playback, and excellent audio quality.
Liong Hang Chew, Assistant Vice President of Mobile Network Engineering, StarHub said that they chose Mobixell Seamless Access to enable a new era of mobile data traffic handling, increasing efficiency and improving customer experience. At the same time, implementing Seamless Access will enable future services such as content security and other possible revenue-generating features.
Yaron Dishon, SVP Sales Asia Pacific and Global Channels, Mobixell says that they are proud to have been chosen by such an innovative and influential operator as StarHub to assist with its mobile data management needs. Mobixell Seamless Access intelligently manages the surge in mobile internet and video traffic, while enabling mobile operators to achieve the ‘least cost, smartest pipe’ strategy. As mobile traffic grows exponentially, providing a cost efficient, forward-looking solution is imperative for mobile operators to succeed. Mobixell Seamless Access will help StarHub to achieve the perfect balance between cost reduction, user experience, network complexity and revenue generating high quality mobile Internet services.
SingTel reports 9.6 per cent decline in Q3 results (Singapore)
Leading telecom operator in Singapore, SingTel has reported a decline of 9.6 percent in its Q3 net profit results owing to a weak performance by Indian associate Bharti Airtel in its last quarter results.
According to company reports, the net income fell from US$ 796 million in Q3 2010 to US$ 717 million in the same quarter this year. Further, the company reported a net profit of US$ 719 million in the third quarter of 2011 as compared to US$ 796 million in the same period last year.
As per a statement made by the company, the strong gain in mobile customers in Singapore during the quarter led to higher acquisition and retention costs, while contributions from the regional mobile associates declined due to their weaker currencies and 3G losses from Bharti India.
Indian operator and Singtel’s associate Bharti Airtel reported a decline of 22 percent for its net profit in Q3 2011, primarily owing to a reduction in mobile phone usage by its subscribers and increased expenditure for the roll-out of 3G services.
SingTel launches global cloud-based service (Singapore)
Mobile operator SingTel has launched a global cloud-based service that enables companies to secure, control and manage corporate data and mobile devices of their employees, regardless of their location. The SingTel Mobility Device Manager (MDM) service, enables companies to manage devices of different mobile OS and ensure information security for mobile devices used by their workforce. This includes company-issued devices, as well as those belonging to employees.
According to company reports, Bill Chang, Executive Vice President (Business Group), SingTel has said that they are seeing a surge in the number of companies that allow their employees to bring their own mobile devices for work. In fact, the use of smartphones for business activities worldwide is projected to grow by 116 per cent by 2014. This opens up new security issues, particularly for companies with regional operations. With SingTel MDM, companies can secure data through security policy settings and governance, control on devices, manage apps deployment and control cost through usage policy management. These can all be done via the simple-to-use web-based portal.
Further, in the event of the loss or theft of an employee’s mobile device, an administrator can remotely lock the device or selectively erase corporate data to prevent market sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands. Administrators can determine the location of the missing devices and remotely deploy and track apps downloads within the enterprise. They are also able to configure and provision the devices over-the-air.
The report alsoreveals that SingTel MDM is compatible with all mobile OS platforms including iOS, Android, Blackberry, Windows Phone, Symbian and Windows Mobile. In addition, it is independent of the location and mobile network, thus facilitating the seamless control of mobile devices globally.
Chang added that as SingTel MDM is offered on a monthly subscription basis, companies do not need to make upfront investments in equipment and can avoid the ongoing costs of managing and maintaining complex systems and hardware. This allows them to improve their productivity, increase business agility and reduce their operating costs significantly.
SingTel announces LTE price plans (Singapore)
Singapore based wireless operator, SingTel, is offering users faster mobile broadband services with the help of its LTE (Long Term Evolution) network. According to reports, the operator is expected to offer users download speeds of up to 75 Mbps charged at US$ 54 on a monthly basis.
As per company reports, the operator will initially launch its new service in select areas of Singapore and hopes to cover as many as 80 percent of its users by the end of next year. Currently, the service will be made available on the USB dongles and sources claim that the Samsung Galaxy S II will be the first LTE enabled smartphone in Singapore, to be launched in the first quarter of 2012.
