SingTel

[yeh]

i wonder should i sell my singtel, now seem singtel a good holding baby.

with lot potential

[greengiraffe]

Optus to ramp up investment in fixed-line, mobile networks
THE AUSTRALIAN APRIL 21, 2015 12:00AM

Mitchell Bingemann

Reporter
Sydney

Optus to ramp up investment in network
Allen Lew says Optus ‘will over the next three years increase our investment in both our mobile as well as our fixed network’. Picture: John Feder Source: News Corp Australia
Optus has flagged a significant increase in its annual mobile and fixed-line infrastructure spend as the telco ramps up its assault on Telstra and comes to grips with being relegated to the third place as a provider of the nation’s broadband services.

Speaking at the annual CommsDay Summit in Sydney yesterday, Optus chief Allen Lew said the telco was preparing for a spending spree over the next three years as it looked to take on Telstra and defend its turf against close rivals — TPG and iiNet in the fixed-line space and Vodafone in mobiles.

“We will over the next three years increase our investment in both our mobile as well as our fixed network, in particular the breadth, the depth, and the speed of our 4G mobile network since this is the most important factor that really matters to Australians and is key in getting and retaining their business,” Mr Lew said.

“We will also be making a significant financial investment in our new customer support and advanced analytics systems that sit behind our infrastructure so our customers can interact with us in the most convenient way and the way they actually want which is through the internet.”

Optus typically spends about $1.2 billion a year on its fixed-line and mobile networks but is looking for an increase from its parent SingTel to improve the telco’s mobile network outside of metropolitan areas in the year ahead.

The telco is also after new funds to cover a $300 million revamp of its IT and billing systems which will see Optus untangle its snake’s nest of billing systems, shut down scores of legacy IT systems and unify its customer care functions across its mobile, fixed-line and HFC cable networks.

If successful, the project would migrate Optus’s retail, business, enterprise and government ­customers and services across the telco’s various networks on to a single platform. This would ­provide the telco with a single customer view and generate cost savings as hundreds of legacy systems are switched off.

Mr Lew said the Optus’s new analytics and IT engine would allow the telco to develop business models that would help it reap more profits from over-the-top (OTT) players like Facebook and Netflix by charging those services for higher-quality connections to its customers.

The practice of offering premium internet access to content providers has been widely lambasted by proponents of internet neutrality — a guiding principle of the free internet that all traffic should be treated equally regardless of its origin or destination.

Advocates of an open and free internet, as well as companies ­including Google, have been vocal in their concern that without strong net neutrality rules, service providers could create internet “fast lanes” by charging fees for preferential treatment.

However, Mr Lew said Optus would not break such principles, saying offering a premium service was akin to charging businesses for better internet access.

“We need to make sure the OTT providers, whether they’re Netflix or others, understand that to preserve the network quality and give you a HD high definition video in your homes, they need to work collaboratively with us,” he said.

[CityFarmer]

The impact should be very minimum...

Singtel to delist from Australia, says no change in strategy Down Under

SINGAPORE (April 21): Singapore Telecommunications is seeking Australian regulatory approval to delist from ASX.

The telco was listed in Australia in September 2001 following its acquisition of Optus. Its securities are offered on ASX in the form of CHESS Depositary Interests (CDIs).

In the 12 months to March 31, the number of Singtel CDIs traded on ASX accounted for only 6% of all Singtel shares traded.

"This reflects institutional investors’ preference to hold and trade Singtel shares on its home exchange, the SGX," Singtel said in a statement today.
...
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/sg/article...down-under

[CityFarmer]

Further info disclosed by SingTel Singapore strategy, from its investor presentation.

SingTel will accelerate its migration from legacy networks, which is good to prepare for the 4th operator. No more 2G network, and ADSL, and move to a re-farm 4G/900MHz, and Fibre network. I reckon M1 and Starhub will follow the same in near future. I wonder there are sufficient device support of 4G/900MHz?

If the 4th operator is approved by IDA, the migration to 4G from 3G will be accelerated, to further prepare for the competition. At the moment, the 4G penetration is almost the same as 3G. It can easily obsolete 3G, in 2 years time by all existing operators, if needed. Just in time for 4th operator full operation, which earliest in end 2016

SingTel Wifi is an interesting concept. Why not M1 and Starhub do the same? M1 and Starhub support basic wireless@SG service, but no paid service, IIRC

I recently visited M1 and SingTel shops, and noticed that the process has been optimized. No more cashier counter, no more photocopying, all done digitally. The promoters are not even need to leave the table to process a new contract. The productivity will be improved. I am yet to find out on StarHub, any buddies to share the experience?

(not vested, but sharing a view on Singapore telco)

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/SingtelI...eID=354440

[CityFarmer]

More info from analyst meeting with management. The SingTel view is consistent with M1's, the key still on QoS requirement on 4th operator

VoLTE is actively been deployed by M1 by Starhub, but it seems not yet for SingTel, at least not seen from official docs.

(not vested)

SingTel kept at 'buy' on growth from regional associates by UOB Kay Hian

SINGAPORE (June 4): At SingTel’s Investor Day 2015 held on June 3, management highlighted the difficult operating environment confronting the potential fourth mobile operator.

It pointed out that the new entrant would be regulated based on quality of service, which is audited by Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) on a regular basis for both in-building and outdoor coverage.

The quality of voice calls could be inferior if the new entrant builds a 4G LTE network without rolling out a 3G network to handle voice calls.

Management believes that voice over LTE (VOLTE) would not be able to replace voice, at least not at this juncture.

UOB Kay Hian in a report out today views this as a short-term advantage for the three incumbent mobile operators.

While SingTel does not intend to lead the industry in a downward spiral for pricing of mobile services, management said it will vigorously defend its market share.

The telco has plans to shut down its 2G mobile network and broadband services based on ADSL technology over the next two years to reduce costs.
...
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/sg/article...b-kay-hian

[CityFarmer]

The $5.6 million doesn't include the performance shares...

(not vested)

Singtel CEO’s pay rose 19% to $5.6 million in FY2015

SINGAPORE (June 22): Singapore Telecommuncations’ CEO Chua Sock Koong’s pay packet rose by 18.8% to $5.6 million in the financial year ended March, according to the company’s annual report released today.

Singtel’s earnings rose 4% to $3.78 billion on a 2% hike in revenue to $17.2 billion.

Of the total, Chua received a fixed remuneration of $1.68 million and a variable bonus of $$3.8 million. CPF contributions and benefits such as car benefits, flexible benefits and other non-cash benefits such as medical cover and club membership make up the balance of her pay package.

She was also entitled to 1.74 million performance shares.

Shares in Singtel close 7 cents up at $4.23 today.
http://www.theedgemarkets.com/sg/article...ion-fy2015

[greengiraffe]

After Vodafone resolved its connectivity issues, Optus appears to be running into some stormy waters Down Under

Optus outage leaves thousands unable to make phone calls
THE AUSTRALIAN JUNE 23, 2015 2:11PM

Sydney city suburbs of Surry Hills as well as Rockdale in the South and Newcastle and the Central Coast in the North have been affected by an outage mobile outage. Source: Supplied

Optus, the nation’s No. 2 telco provide, has suffered a major network outage across NSW leaving thousands of customers unable to make or receive calls on their mobile phones.

The telco has posted an alert to its homepage saying mobile voice calls are “intermittently failing” across NSW.

“We’ve identified a fault which means you might experience issues with voice and/or data at the moment. Our team are on to it, and aim to fix this as soon as possible. We’re sorry for the inconvenience,” Optus said.

Optus said the network fault is currently under investigation.

The Sydney city suburbs of Surry Hills as well as Rockdale in the South and Newcastle and the Central Coast in the North have been affected by the outage.

[CityFarmer]

SingTel Chairman media statement on CEO salary. It is a pretty quick response.

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/Media%20...eID=357107

[greengiraffe]

Total Shareholders' Returns is a subjective yardstick.

IMHO, Singtel is one of those companies with low growth predictable cashflow that was in favour amongst fun mgrs allocating $ to a boring SGX mkt.

To be fair, TSR captured yield compression that is featured prominently amongst this global investment theme.

I wouldn't rate TSR as a KPI too highly given that whoever that benefited from such a bubbly stock market phenomenon seldom return their benefits when there is a stock market downturn and hence shareholders should have every right to question TSR as a KPI for key personnel bonus payments.

SingTel Chairman media statement on CEO salary. It is a pretty quick response.

http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/Media%20...eID=357107

[corydorus]

I think her salary/rewards are reasonable for a CEO of this scale of business. I won't green eye over her millions.