Starhub

decent results,
juicy dividends maintained

(Happily Vested ^^)

TECHNOLOGY
StarHub offers crowdfunding with mentorship
Published on Apr 10, 2014
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Through Crowdtivate, StarHub hopes to incorporate new ideas and innovations into its own services, says chief technology officer Mock Pak Lum. -- PHOTO: CROWDSOURCING WEEK 2014

By Chia Yan Min

TELCO StarHub launched a crowdfunding platform yesterday to help start-ups in the region raise awareness about their products.

The website, named Crowdtivate, will be fully operational next month with ambitions that go beyond the usual crowdfunding service.

Crowdfunding refers to the practice of funding a project or venture by raising small amounts of money from a large group of people.

Popular in countries like the United States, it allows small businesses and individuals to make a pitch online in the hope that others will like their ideas enough to pledge cash.

Most crowdfunding platforms focus on fund raising, but Crowdtivate will also provide entrepreneurs with mentorship and business incubation support, said Mr Mock Pak Lum, StarHub's chief technology officer.

Top campaigns on the platform, which is co-managed by StarHub and crowdfunding platform operator Crowdonomic, will receive marketing support, free software development and other business assistance from the telco. Campaigns will be selected based on votes from the website's users.

Potential campaigners can visit the website and request an invitation code to access the platform.

"Telcos are traditionally dinosaurs... by ourselves, it's difficult to identify where the innovative ideas are," said Mr Mock. "Since we don't know better, why not ask the crowd? If enough people support an idea, there might be something to it."

The aim is to eventually incorporate new ideas and innovations into Star-Hub's own services, although the telco intends to partner entrepreneurs instead of buying over their companies.

"We're looking at forming partnerships... We'll take a small stake and help the company with its growth plans. This way, the founder can continue to be involved," Mr Mock said.

StarHub is working with other "similarly minded telcos" in the region keen on providing start-ups with funding and other forms of help, he added.

StarHub's move is the latest in a series of efforts by telcos here to go beyond their traditional business models.

SingTel set up a $200 million venture fund called Innov8 in 2010 to invest in companies related to its telco business. It has since acquired a number of tech firms.

StarHub unveiled its new platform at Crowdsourcing Week 2014, at Fusionopolis. The event, which ends tomorrow, is being held here for the second time. It aims to discuss how crowdsourcing - getting ideas or feedback from a group of people - can benefit marketing and advertising activities.

chiaym@sph.com.sg

Will the rental increase?

(not vested)

StarHub launches next-gen set-top boxes by Samsung

SINGAPORE — Telco Starhub launched the first of three new next-generation set top boxes by Samsung today (April 10). The set-top box aims to load videos on demand faster, and will have a more user-friendly interface.

This hybrid box will also have the capability to carry content via fibre, in addition to cable.

The other two boxes, which will be launched soon, will have features such as recording and multi-screen capabilities.

Customers have the option of trading in their existing set-top boxes in for the new set top boxes from April 15.
http://www.todayonline.com/tech/starhub-...es-samsung

StarHub finally gave up the cable infra, and migrated to fiber.

StarHub needs to find a new usage on the cable network, which almost all households in Singapore have the access.

The cable-TV content delivery via cable had advantages over xDSL, before fiber network deployment. Both cable-TV providers are on par now.

StarHub planning fibre pay-TV

SINGAPORE - Starhub is planning to officially launch a new pay-TV service for consumers that runs on the national fibre broadband network instead of its traditional cable platform.

The move could help the telco save costs in the future, said technology observers.

Called StarHub TV on Fibre, the service was launched for businesses, such as restaurants and pubs, in March last year. In response to queries from The Straits Times, the telco confirmed yesterday that it also had a soft launch of the pay-TV service to residential customers in the same month.

As part of its marketing efforts, StarHub uploaded a YouTube guide on how customers could set up the service in late January. The official launch date of TV on Fibre for consumers will be revealed later.

StarHub's head of entertainment and SmartLife Lin Shu Fen said the move will allow households with no cable access to enjoy StarHub's content over fibre. Currently, a "small percentage of customers" are on TV on Fibre, she said.

The system runs on the Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) technology - the same as the one rival SingTel uses for its mio TV pay-TV service.
...
http://news.asiaone.com/news/digital1/st...bre-pay-tv

The competition starting to take a toll on the company PnL...

StarHub posts 7.7% fall in 1Q earnings to $84.2 mil

StarHub reported a 7.7% fall in earnings for the first quarter ended March to $84.2 million from $91.2 million a year ago.

Total revenue fell 2% to $571 million as service revenue fell by 1% at $544 million. Mobile revenue increased 1% to $306 million, contributed by Post-paid mobile services which recorded higher subscription revenue, driven from a larger subscriber base and an increased mix of subscribers on tiered data subscription plans.

Pay TV revenue decreased 1% to $94 million. The lower revenue was a result of lower subscription revenue. Customer base was stable at 533,000 households and the churn rate held steady at 0.9%.

Broadband revenue decreased 14% to $54 million, compared to a year ago, mainly due to lower subscription revenue despite a higher subscriber base.

The group’s EBITDA decreased 3% to $177 million from $182 million previously. EBITDA margin for the quarter was at 32.6%.

Free cash flow at $105 million was 14% higher compared to last year’s $92 million. Cash capital expenditure was 45% higher at $67 million compared to the same period last year.
http://www.theedgesingapore.com/the-dail...2-mil.html#

Starhub is bundling its fiber plan with cable broadband. A 500 Mbps fiber plan costs $69.90/month, is bundled with 100 Mbps cable broadband. I am puzzling on the move. Is it the last stroke to leverage on demising cable broadband? May be it is useful, anyone using it?

http://www.starhub.com/personal/promotio...boost.html

(not vested)

http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/...s-20140723

PUBLISHED JULY 23, 2014
Crowdtivate unveils first 12 crowdfunding projects
They are picked by StarHub from more than 400 entries
BYJOYCE HOOI
joyceh@sph.com.sg @JoyceHooiBT

Innovation in the making: Mechanical smart watch hybrid by Kairos Watches (above); WaryBee is a wearable 'smart panic button'
[SINGAPORE] Crowdtivate, StarHub's new crowdfunding platform, unveiled the first 12 projects that are looking to raise funds from the public, yesterday.
These projects were picked by StarHub from more than 400 entries that the operator received after Crowdtivate's beta launch in April this year.
Now, members of the public can go to the Crowdtivate website and contribute to any of the campaigns through their PayPal account or any major credit card.
Among the 12 campaign hopefuls is a mechanical smart watch hybrid by Kairos Watches, which has already racked up more than US$1 million in pre-orders since May.

(23-07-2014, 07:16 AM)greengiraffe Wrote: http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/premium/...s-20140723

PUBLISHED JULY 23, 2014
Crowdtivate unveils first 12 crowdfunding projects
They are picked by StarHub from more than 400 entries
BYJOYCE HOOI
joyceh@sph.com.sg @JoyceHooiBT

Innovation in the making: Mechanical smart watch hybrid by Kairos Watches (above); WaryBee is a wearable 'smart panic button'
[SINGAPORE] Crowdtivate, StarHub's new crowdfunding platform, unveiled the first 12 projects that are looking to raise funds from the public, yesterday.
These projects were picked by StarHub from more than 400 entries that the operator received after Crowdtivate's beta launch in April this year.
Now, members of the public can go to the Crowdtivate website and contribute to any of the campaigns through their PayPal account or any major credit card.
Among the 12 campaign hopefuls is a mechanical smart watch hybrid by Kairos Watches, which has already racked up more than US$1 million in pre-orders since May.

How will the initiative help SH core telecom business?

(not vested)

Hi,
Could someone help me understand why is Starhub's price relatively high given that it's still accumulating deficits?
Given that the dividend is relatively high but then it's still in deficit as I believe the earnings are channelled to pay dividends.
Given such a scenario, what would be some of the reasons why people want to invest in companies that have a record of deficit?
Are they taking a 'big' risk as it's getting more and more difficult to keep up with the high dividends as the accumulated deficits continue to pile higher.
Thanks for your thoughts.

(05-08-2014, 09:00 PM)Stecano Wrote: Hi,
Could someone help me understand why is Starhub's price relatively high given that it's still accumulating deficits?
Given that the dividend is relatively high but then it's still in deficit as I believe the earnings are channelled to pay dividends.
Given such a scenario, what would be some of the reasons why people want to invest in companies that have a record of deficit?
Are they taking a 'big' risk as it's getting more and more difficult to keep up with the high dividends as the accumulated deficits continue to pile higher.
Thanks for your thoughts.

I merged the new thread under Starhub thread. You may want to post company related posts under the appropriate company thread in the future.

Regards
Moderator