Posts tagged starhub
Singapore gets World Cup option?
Jan 29th
With SingTel and StarHub in a deadlock with Fifa over television rights to the 2010 World Cup, a new player has emerged with the ability to give Singaporeans full access to the biggest football extravaganza of the year.
British company Perform Group, a sports and entertainment specialist for digital media, has been closely monitoring the drama that has kept the telephone companies in an impasse with football’s world governing body over a reported $40 million fee.
No progress has been made yet despite the Football Association of Singapore’s approaches to Fifa.
Perform is now interested in making available all the World Cup matches from South Africa to Singapore viewers after Fifa’s sales representatives, Football Media Services, approached the company.
Mr Jason Swanson, Perform’s advertising and sponsorship sales manager in Singapore, told MediaCorp, they have the capability and technology in place, and can put it online – even at the eleventh hour.
The matches, he said, will be shown live on the Internet – which Fifa would not otherwise make available to a country that does not pay the rights for it.
Various packages, said Mr Swanson, would be made available to Singapore viewers.
“It could be a pay-per-view option or a package for all the games,” he said. “What we will do is to set up a site where people could go in and make their choices, whether they want to watch only the England games or all the matches. There are lots of ways we can do it.”
He added that Perform streams about 15,000 matches online every year and is currently delivering the Australian Open.
Last October, the company made history by broadcasting an England match for the first time exclusively on the Internet for £5 ($11) for those who booked early, and £12 for late subscribers.
The pre-World Cup qualifier with Ukraine was watched by 500,000 British viewers, which the company claimed was the largest audience for a pay-per-view sports event online.
Mr Swanson said the World Cup could be made cheaper for Singapore, relative to the England-Ukraine match, as Perform intends to rope in sponsors and advertisers.
He said the potential pool of 2 million viewers here can also expect high quality images of June’s World Cup that can be projected on television and big screens without Internet interruptions.
“When we delivered the England game, there were no issues and there should be none in Singapore because we have the servers and the broadband here is also very good,” he said.
Mr Swanson said providing the World Cup service is something Perform is keen to do.
“When I talk to people on the streets, they are pretty upset they may not get to see the World Cup. They want to watch here and not go across the Causeway,” he said.
“If none of the big players step up for the TV rights, we’ll see what Fifa wants because it would be worth doing it in Singapore.
“They know our capabilities and are familiar with how we deliver sports events online.”
Source: TODAY
Key World Cup matches may be telecast on MediaCorp’s channels
Jan 22nd
Football fans in Singapore may get to watch the 2010 FIFA World Cup matches on television after all.
That is because national broadcaster MediaCorp confirmed on Wednesday that it has put in an offer to telecast key World Cup matches on its free—to—air channels.
Earlier reports claimed that should SingTel and StarHub fail in their joint bid to broadcast World Cup matches, Singaporeans could miss out completely on the football action.
But MediaCorp’s bid means football fans here can breathe easier now. The company is currently waiting for FIFA’s response.
MediaCorp said any matches telecast on its free—to—air channels are subject to the company’s successful bid.
The broadcaster understands that there is no specific FIFA ruling for any match to be provided free—of—charge to any broadcaster nor is there a mandate for any match to be aired on a free—to—air basis.
As Singapore’s national broadcaster, it needs to balance between catering to viewers’ needs and the returns from advertising revenues that will fund the telecast of the matches.
The latest development spelt good news for fans.
Said one man in the street: “Half a loaf is better than none, isn’t it?”
Another football fan said: “I think that will be good because if SingTel or StarHub get the bid, we need to pay.”
“Why should we suffer because of some corporate fight, that’s not fair, that’s not really fair, we should be able to watch everything,” said another man in the street.
In 2006, MediaCorp telecast four World Cup matches — the opening, two semi—finals and the final game on its free—to—air channels.
Source: CNA
Singapore iPhone 3GS Shootout
Nov 10th
It is officially a free-for all for the iPhone in Singapore. And while the public can expect charges to drop – and the telcos anticipate high take-up rates – news yesterday of StarHub’s entry to the iPhone market nonetheless drew a bittersweet response from some consumers.
The telco’s announcement that it has reached an agreement with manufacturer Apple to offer the smartphone means by next month, customers of all three telcos here will be able to get their hands on the gadget.
In its statement – a month after M1 broke SingTel’s 14-month monopoly – StarHub said it would offer the iPhone “later this year”, along with “a range of tailored service plans”. Pricing, tariffs and availability dates will be released in due course.
The news sent StarHub’s share price up 7 cents, closing at $1.95 yesterday.
Copywriter Daniel Lee, a decade-long StarHub customer until last week when he switched to another telco, felt “quite bummed”. Said the 29-year-old: “I think I’d be echoing the same sentiments as others who ‘jumped’ … (StarHub) wasn’t fast enough on the uptake.”
Mr Lee contemplated switching back to StarHub after its announcement, but decided against it due to the hefty penalty he would incur for breaking his new contract.
But another StarHub subscriber Khaled Talib, 44, will finally be getting the iPhone – the Blackberry user was put off by the long queues in August last year when the iPhone was launched here.
iPhone charges are set to drop if Australia’s experience is anything to go by, said telco analyst Aloysius Choong.
Data plans, based on Gigabytes per month, fell from above A$150 ($193) to below A$100 within a year when Hutchison and Virgin entered the fray, said the research manager at IDC’s Asia Pacific personal systems group.
“In Singapore, we should likewise see some price competition in iPhone subsidies and tariffs, although not in the same magnitude as Australia,” he said.
But consumers looking to get smartphones from Apple rivals such as Nokia, HTC or Samsung might be worse off, as StarHub and M1 now have less need to subsidise these products, he noted.
When contacted, M1 was tight-lipped about its iPhone launch date and pricing plans. SingTel spokesman Chia Boon Chong said: “To date, we have put tens of thousands of iPhone 3GS in the hands of our customers. We review our price plans regularly to ensure that they offer the best value to our customers and remain competitive in the market.”
StarHub to bring iPhone to customers in Singapore
Nov 9th
It has been bad news and bad news for Starhub, there are chances where they might be losing a substantial amount of cabletv customers due to the football broadcasting issues. Now all Starhub mobile users can rejoice. StarHub has announced that it will bring the iPhone to its customers in Singapore later this year after reaching an agreement with Apple.
The telecommunications company said on Monday it looks forward to offering the iPhone and a range of tailored service plans to its customers. It added that more information on pricing and availability dates will be released in due course.
StarHub is the last of the three phone service providers here to reach a deal with Apple in offering the iPhone. Last month, Mobile One said it would also sell the iPhone later this year.
M1 To Offer iPhones To Consumers
Oct 14th
I’m a happy man! Well, not because I’m sick, but I’ve came across a wonderful news. M1 will be bringing in iPhones later this year and it has been confirmed! Interested? Read down further!
MobileOne (M1) has broken SingTel’s monopoly of the Apple iPhone market in Singapore.
M1 on Tuesday said it has secured a deal with the US computer giant Apple to sell the iPhone in the city. But details on pricing and when the handsets will be released will come later.
If one wants to buy an Apple iPhone now, one can only choose SingTel. But that will change when M1 starts selling its own iPhone handsets.
Analysts said the iPhone could help M1 reduce its customer churn, or the rate at which it loses customers over a specific time period.
Ng Kian Teck, research associate, SIAS Research, said: “M1 is taking on the younger crowd, and the iPhone is something that the crowd is looking forward to. And this will lower its churn rate.
“At least for the last one year, quite a substantial portion of customers are being lost to SingTel because of the lack of the iPhone service.”
He added that M1’s current churn rate is about 1.5, compared to 1.2 for the other two mobile operators.
Meanwhile, some consumers have welcomed the news.
Business development engineer Jaycee Lim, an M1 subscriber, said: “Since there is no more monopoly on the iPhone, the telcos may try to compete on the prices of their mobile phones as well as data plans. I will definitely be considering getting the iPhone when it is available, providing the price is reasonable.”
The question now is how much the M1 iPhone will cost and its data plans.
Analysts said M1 has much to do to catch up to SingTel’s 14-month lead – so this might result in cheaper rates. This will sit well with its mainly youth customer base, who are likely to have limited spending power. M1 is also likely to roll out a range of plans to allow for some flexibility.
When contacted, SingTel said it will continue to collaborate with Apple to introduce the latest products to Singapore.
A SingTel spokesman said: “SingTel is pleased to have been the first operator to bring both the iPhone and iPhone 3GS to Singapore. Coupled with our unrivalled 3G mobile network coverage and our innovative services like Live TV, our customers are enjoying a superior iPhone 3GS experience.
“We will continue to collaborate with Apple in introducing the latest products to Singapore. To date, we have put tens of thousands of iPhone 3GS in the hands of our customers. We review our price plans regularly to ensure that they offer the best value to our customers and remain competitive in the market.”
Both M1 and StarHub have been vying for the rights to sell the iPhone in Singapore. Analysts said the chances of StarHub getting its own deal now appear slim.
Mr Ng said: “The likelihood is not that high – because Apple is looking for a significant proportion of sales. So it is not possible to have too many players selling iPhones together. For example, if you want to sign a contract, you may have had to sell at least 100,000 phones.”
StarHub told Channel NewsAsia that it is still interested in bringing the iPhone to its customers.
“We are interested to bring the iPhone to StarHub customers. After all, we offer the highest mobile data network speeds and the best smart phone plans in town,” said Michael Sim, senior manager, Corporate Communications, StarHub.
Student Peggy Chang, a StarHub subscriber, said: “Of course, I am not happy that StarHub is now the only one who does not sell iPhones. When my contract expires in one year’s time, I will definitely switch providers.
“But the best scenario would be for StarHub to get the rights too, so consumers can compare prices among the telcos. I assume they will each try to offer competitive deals then.”
Some market watchers see M1’s iPhone deal as a double whammy for StarHub, which earlier this month lost its broadcast rights for the English Premier League, from the 2010 season, to SingTel
Source: CNA
Incompetent Singnet
Aug 24th
Sigh. First thing I wake up, I on my computer, logged in and noticed my internet cannot connect at all. So I thought my router or my line got problem again so I tried to connect afew times before i realised that today is the termination date. That’s weird.
Long story short, Yes! I did request for a termination roughly 2 weeks ago due to very intermittent connections, like disconnecting every 5 mins. They said they will need 7 days to process the whole thing. I had no objections and carried on with it as my next billing date is only on the 24th. However, last week, I wanted to try salvage the situation and Singtel finally agreed to send both a engineer and a technican to come to my house to do a detailed line check. After much diagnosis, they finally concluded that it’s the cable outside my house to the singtel point that’s the problem and they will request for a contractor to rerun the cable for me FOC. I was grateful and immediately called up Singnet Broadband to recall me termination. The customer service officer confirmed on the retraction. A few days ago, I was worried so I decided to call SNBB for reconfirm the recallation of termination. Again, the CSO assured that the plan will still ongoing.
But guess what, today, after some testing from the first paragraph of this post, I noticed that my snbb 10Mbps plan has been terminated. I double confirmed by trying to sign in to my singnet mail and it stated “no such id”. Good grace, I have been a SNBB customer for at least 5 years and now they pull this kind of stun on me.
Now you are wondering.. how did I manage to blog this post? Well, Starhub recently has a Hubstation trial going out and some bros from Hardwarezone posted the invite to us. I decided to take the 1 month trial to test the Hubstation (all SCV channels included) with 1Mbps cable connection. So, yup, I am using the 1Mbps now.
Now I am wondering, if Singnet could screw up a small thing like this, would I be safe if I continue with them? Or should I go cable?
Feel free to give me your feedback. Thanks for hearing my rant. Geez.
M1 launches home cable broadband
Aug 5th
The last of Singapore’s three major telcos in entering the fixed broadband services market, with M1 piggy-backing on rival StarHub’s access points to deliver high-speed Internet into people’s homes.
Customers can start signing up from today, with special disounts for M1’s existing mobile phone customers.
The move will enable M1 to better compete with StarHub and SingTel, which have positioned themsevles as convenient one-stop shops for telephone, television and Internet services with attractive combo-deals.
Until now, M1 has only offered Internet services via its 3G mobile phones.
M1 will launch its fixed broadband service with four plans based on varying Internet access speeds with a monthly subscription gtom $40.60 for existing M1 customers.
M1 will be riding on Starhub’s infrastructure temporarily. A spokeman said, “For now, this is cheaper than laying their own infrastucture, but I think they would move on to the Next Generation Network that will be set up in a few years time”
M1 is part of a three-way consortium with Starhub called the Infinity, bidding to design, build and operate Singapore’s new ultra high-speed broadband network. they are competing for the deal against OpenNet, of which SingTel is a member.
The winning team will be expected to build a new fibre network, called the Next Generation National Broadband Network, capable of providing Web users with super-fast surfing speeds of up to 1Gbps, from 2012.
BROADBAND FACE OFF
Operator: M1
Lowest Speed Plan (Cost Per Month): 10Mbps ($43.50)
Highest Speed Plan (Cost Per Month): 100Mbps ($88.50)
Extras: 10% discount for existing customers. Free modem.
Operator: Singtel
Lowest Speed Plan (Cost Per Month): 1Mbps ($22.90)
Highest Speed Plan (Cost Per Month): 10Mbps ($58)
Extras: Free registration for new subscribers. Free wireless integrated or ethernet modem.
Operator: Starhub
Lowest Speed Plan (Cost Per Month): 2Mbps ($29.96)
Highest Speed Plan (Cost Per Month): 100Mbps ($124.14)
Extras: Free mobile broadband for 8, 12, 100Mbps plans
Operator: PacNet
Lowest Speed Plan (Cost Per Month): 8Mbps ($59.92)
Highest Speed Plan (Cost Per Month): 30Mbps ($124.12)
Extras: Personal homepage space of 10Mb
I just cancelled my SingNet 10Mbps Broadband plan which ends on 23th August 2008 due to intermittent connection. Since, I’m a current M1 mobile user, I can get another 10% off. Perhaps, time to go M1 Cable? Or PacNet Cable? Still considering…
