Category: StarHub
StarHub – BT
StarHub halves sports group price to $12
Other enhancements include NBA deal as it tries to make up for loss of BPL
STARHUB hopes to rebound from its Barclays Premier League (BPL) defeat with a combination of a steep subscription discount and a slam dunk in NBA (National Basketball Association) programming.
From June 1, the operator will halve the monthly price for its sports group from $25 to $12. In addition, it will add a host of exclusive sports programming to make up for the loss of its BPL broadcast rights to rival Singapore Telecom.
Topping StarHub’s sports list is a multi-year content deal with the NBA. This will allow StarHub to screen more games from the NBA play-offs, as well as the NBA finals.
From next season, StarHub will screen three matches weekly on its Supersports channel and one ‘live’ NBA game per week on a new offering called NBA TV.
Although the BPL has many followers in soccer-mad Singapore, StarHub’s chief operating officer Tan Tong Hai said that the NBA is the other ‘pre-eminent’ sport with a strong local following.
That is why StarHub moved quickly to lock down the NBA deal after it lost the BPL to SingTel, he told reporters yesterday.
As the contract was signed before March 12 – the date that the Media Development Authority’s new cross-carriage mandate kicked in – StarHub will not need not share its NBA programming with SingTel.
ESPN currently shows two ‘live’ NBA matches a week, but the long-time StarHub tenant will move to SingTel’s mioTV platform from June.
With the ESPN pact, SingTel is laying claim to additional sporting events from ESPN, including Formula One, the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open Golf Championship
In response, StarHub will offer a new Racquet Channel from May 23. Major tennis tournaments such as the US Open, the French Open and the ATP World Tour will be shown on this channel. Competitions involving other racquet sports such as the All England Badminton Open and the World Table Tennis Championship will also be televised, StarHub said.
Other enhancements to StarHub’s sports offerings include a new PGA Tour on Demand channel for golf enthusiasts and a new cricket channel called Ten Sports.
‘We’re not just hoping to retain current customers. We’re hoping to attract new ones,’ Mr Tan said.
StarHub – CNA
StarHub reduces price for sports channels from June this year
Cable TV operator, StarHub’s sports channels will be cheaper from June this year.
The sports group channels will cost S$12 a month, more than 50 per cent lower than the S$25 subscribers currently pay.
StarHub lost its bid to screen the prized English Premier League to rival SingTel last year for the 2010 to 2013 seasons.
Since then, sports fans have clamoured for a cut in the price of its sports package and it’s been heard that from June they will pay S$12 a month, much lower than the S$25 they are paying now.
Tan Ting Hai, chief operating officer, StarHub, said: “We believe that this will not only help to retain our existing sports subscribers but also attract those subscribers who’ve left us. In the past, when we increased the price, a large group of sports subscribers left us. So, we welcome them to join us back.”
Revenue will be affected but StarHub said new subscribers will make up for this.
It’s also hoping to attract more subscribers with a range of fresh content and new sports channels.
It will show ‘LIVE’ NBA playoffs and final games on its in-house SuperSports channel and all this is good news for sports fans.
One sports fan said: “It’s very attractive. You’re talking about 50 per cent. Now I’m paying quite a lot for three different groups of channels. But if they come in with S$12 and sports channels like basketball, I will definitely consider.”
Other new sports channels StarHub will introduce are NBA TV, Racquet Channel, Ten Sports and PGA Tour on demand.
TELCOs – BT
Fourth mobile operator may get a call-up
IDA may free up remaining 3G spectrum and pave way for new player, says consultation paper
Singapore’s telco scene could add a splash of colour beyond the current red, green and orange if the Republic’s telecommunications regulator goes ahead with a plan to free up its remaining third-generation (3G) cellular spectrum.
The Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) is considering parcelling out the final lot of a 3G spectrum which has been left unused for the last nine years.
The move is envisioned to boost cellular bandwidth for the three incumbent operators – Singapore Telecommunications, StarHub and MobileOne – to provide mobile broadband services. At the same time, it could allow a fourth operator to join the trio in providing high-speed mobile services to local users.
‘To meet mobile operators’ increased demand for frequency spectrum so as to enhance their 3G system, and also to open the door for a fourth 3G operator, IDA would like to make available the remaining spectrum in the 3G Band,’ the regulator said in a consultation paper on its website.
This spectrum falls within the 1900 to 2100 Mhz (megahertz) range, the band which is currently used by telcos to offer 3G services such as mobile broadband and video calling.
Four lots within this frequency range were initially put up for auction in March 2001. However, these did not go under the hammer as IDA received offers only from the three local operators.
SingTel, StarHub and M1 eventually paid the reserve price of $100 million each for their 3G licence and the fourth lot was left unclaimed.
However, with the explosive adoption of mobile broadband services in recent years, IDA said it has recently received requests from telecom industry players to release the remaining spectrum.
‘Based on IDA’s statistics, between September 2008 and September 2009, 3G subscriptions grew by over 25 per cent while High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) subscriptions grew by 240 per cent,’ it said.
HSPA, commonly referred to as 3.5G, is the technology being used to power mobile Web surfing on newfangled smart phones. All three operators also provide token-like devices called HSPA modems that can be connected to laptops to enjoy broadband connectivity on the go.
According to IDA’s latest figures, 3G subscribers currently account for close to half of Singapore’s sizeable base of 6.9 million cellphone users.
‘IDA believes that demand for 3G services will continue to grow steadily as more consumers upgrade from 2G to 3G services and take up mobile broadband services,’ it said.
‘To meet this growing consumption, the incumbent mobile operators will need to increase the capacity of their 3G networks. On the other hand, IDA cannot foreclose the possibility that the growing demand for 3G services may also present a viable business case for another operator to enter the 3G market in Singapore,’ the regulator added.
Singapore did have a fourth operator once in 2002 in the form of Virgin Mobile, a joint venture between SingTel and Richard Branson’s Virgin Group. However, it failed to make a dent in the market and the company pulled out within a year.
IDA is currently seeking views from the telecom industry and the public on its proposal. Feedback must be submitted by April 26.
StarHub – BT
MediaCorp no longer shareholder of StarHub
STARHUB’S long-term shareholder MediaCorp has distributed its remaining 128 million shares in StarHub to Temasek Holdings as payment in lieu of a cash interim dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2010.
With the distribution of the dividend in specie, which represents around 7.5 per cent of StarHub’s issued share capital, the broadcaster is no longer a StarHub shareholder.
Temasek Holdings has in turn sold the new StarHub shares to Aranda Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Temasek Capital unit Seletar Investments, at $2.29 apiece.
Starhub – SGX
Telecommunications ‐ StarHub's (STH SP) long‐term shareholder MediaCorp has distributed its remaining 128m shares in StarHub to Temasek Holdings as payment in lieu of a cash interim dividend for the financial year ended March 31, 2010. With the distribution of the dividend in specie, which represents around 7.5% of StarHub's issued share capital, the broadcaster is no longer a StarHub shareholder.
Temasek Holdings has in turn sold the new StarHub shares to Aranda Investments, a wholly‐owned subsidiary of Temasek Capital unit Seletar Investments, at $2.29 apiece.