SingTel

[yeh]

I have fully divested on Singtel @3.67 and recycle the fund into others.

The Singtel story was on asset play, mainly on the Netlink, but a failed story due to the extension till 2018.

XIRR shows a return of 13.2%, not too bad. I will be back.

(not vested)

why you not holding for long term? the dividend yield is attractive, 4%++
i have 20 lot also. now earning 2%++ profit.

still holding.
any drop is a good buy.

thinking to buy more at 3.5 or <3.5

[Ben]

I have fully divested on Singtel @3.67 and recycle the fund into others.

The Singtel story was on asset play, mainly on the Netlink, but a failed story due to the extension till 2018.

XIRR shows a return of 13.2%, not too bad. I will be back.

(not vested)

I too have divested a little earlier than you but at slightly lower price than yours. In my view, the telco industry is getting really challenging and unattractive. It is becoming more like a commodity product.

[CityFarmer]

I have fully divested on Singtel @3.67 and recycle the fund into others.

The Singtel story was on asset play, mainly on the Netlink, but a failed story due to the extension till 2018.

XIRR shows a return of 13.2%, not too bad. I will be back.

(not vested)

I too have divested a little earlier than you but at slightly lower price than yours. In my view, the telco industry is getting really challenging and unattractive. It is becoming more like a commodity product.

Few reasons that I closed the position
- SingTel aggressive plan on its Digital Life group. I am skeptical on its rationality of spending big buck on service providers.
- SingTel's market share of corporate customer, especially among SMEs are vulnerable to M1 and Starhub competition.
- Pay-TV is an expansive yet not profitable business
- Last and not least, there are better options out there, comparing with SingTel.

I am still long on M1. I am still reviewing it, but its story is likely intact. Telco industry in Singapore is still promising, depending on the position, IMO.

(not vested in SingTel, but vested in M1)

[freedom]

I have fully divested on Singtel @3.67 and recycle the fund into others.

The Singtel story was on asset play, mainly on the Netlink, but a failed story due to the extension till 2018.

XIRR shows a return of 13.2%, not too bad. I will be back.

(not vested)

I too have divested a little earlier than you but at slightly lower price than yours. In my view, the telco industry is getting really challenging and unattractive. It is becoming more like a commodity product.

Commodity product maybe, but the margin is still very attractive thanks to orderly market competition?

Good or bad for consumers?

[corydorus]

I think the current market of 3 key players are the right mix to support sustainability and this will help consumers long run in service and cost structure.

[freedom]

If we use transportation as a measure for telecom services, the 3 key players are charging the consumers too much. Is it reasonable? Why has no one complained like that?

[orangetea]

If we use transportation as a measure for telecom services, the 3 key players are charging the consumers too much. Is it reasonable? Why has no one complained like that?

Yes you are right.

Have you guys taken a look at the charges for business internet.... Super expensive. Not only singtel but includes Myrepublic etc...

My wish is, if this portion of internet overhead is lowered, the smaller businesses can thrive.

The PIC scheme is also inflexible. I don't understand why there is restriction of min 3 cpf employees to qualify.

The budget sitting earlier this year says subsidise broadband overhead....

[greengiraffe]

Optus gears up for battle

MITCHELL BINGEMANN THE AUSTRALIAN APRIL 19, 2014 12:00AM

OPTUS is set to make its biggest infrastructure investment in more than a decade in its ­mobile network this year as the No 2 telco prepares to utilise a new tranche of wireless spectrum that the company says will reinvigorate its fight against Telstra.

As part of a wide-ranging interview with The Weekend Australian, Paul O’Sullivan, chief executive of SingTel’s consumer group — which oversees the telco’s customer operations across Singapore and Australia as well as its investments in Thailand, India, Africa, The Philippines and Indonesia — has signalled a new fight for the ­nation’s mobile customers is ready to erupt as the telco positions itself to recapture market share after a year of customer losses. “It’s one of our biggest and certainly the biggest spend in over a decade,” Mr O’Sullivan said. “The amount of money we are putting into our networks is a sign of our confidence.

“We have a strong belief that Australians want someone who is challenging the other guy, someone who is willing to compete on service and value and not just on claims about network.”

Mr O’Sullivan, the former CEO of Optus in Australia, would not reveal the full extent of the telco’s spend on mobile for the year, but he said the company would be investing as much as $1.2 billion on all infrastructure investments.

Sources close to the company have said that Optus will spend as much as $800 million on its mobile network alone this year, up from the $600m it usually spends.

While that investment still pales in comparison with the $1.2bn that Telstra will spend on its mobile network this financial year, Mr O’Sullivan said Optus had in place a disciplined cost structure that was helping it derive better returns on its investments, and thus more profit from its subscriber base.

“As a priority moving forward it’s about profitable and sustainable growth, not about chasing revenue for the sake of it. That’s the core of our strategy,” he said.

“You have to be extremely focused on return on your capital so you can have the ability to continue to invest. You’ve seen one of our competitors fall away because they have been unable to keep up that investment cycle.”

The decision to increase its infrastructure investment comes at a crucial time for Optus, which has weathered revenue and customer declines over the past year as its once booming mobiles business declined in the face of intense competition from Telstra.

The No 2 telco posted a 5.4 per cent drop in revenue to $2.16bn in the three months to December 31 on the back of a seventh consecutive revenue fall in its mobiles business, which declined 6.3 per cent to $1.4bn. The fall came as Optus revealed it had lost 64,000 customers in the quarter and 134,000 for the year, taking its subscriber base to 9.4 million.

In the last six months of last year, Optus shed 102,000 mobile customers, while Telstra picked up 739,000 new subscribers to take its total beyond 15 million.

The concerns about Optus’s faltering financial position were compounded in February when the telco’s highly regarded boss Kevin Russell announced his shock resignation just halfway through a three-year strategy of improving its network and brand to drive greater profitability.

As part of a big push to improve its standing among customers, Mr Russell shook up the telco’s approach to pricing and, in an industry first, abolished contract breakage fees as part of a move to eliminate “bill shock”.

Despite sacrificing short-term revenue gains when customers would break their data caps, the new plans have been a success, with more than 400,000 customers switching over. Coupled with a reduction in handset subsidies, the changes under Mr Russell helped Optus deliver more sustainable profits. In the December quarter the telco reported a $227m profit despite the backdrop of its overall declines in revenue.

Mr O’Sullivan said the strategy put in place under Mr Russell would continue, but it was time for Optus to once again go after market share. “We want that to drive subscriber growth once again. It won’t happen overnight and we won’t pursue growth at any cost, it will be sensible, balanced growth,” he said.

“You will see Optus looking to leverage off the fact that we are now the leader in customer experience and that we have a stronger network.” One area that Mr O’Sullivan revealed Optus would target for growth in the next 12 months is regional and rural Australia.

He said the landscape for competition in the $35bn-a-year telecoms sector will undergo a dramatic change next year when the 700Mhz spectrum once used for analog TV signals is switched off and handed over to the nation’s leading telcos.

The low-frequency spectrum in the 700Mhz band is considered essential for the next phase of 4G mobile services because its signals can penetrate through walls and over long distances. Optus spent $649m to acquire a large chunk of 700Mhz spectrum in last year’s auctions. Telstra spent twice what Optus did to double its holding.

Yet Mr O’Sullivan predicted the telco giant will be opened up to competition in rural and regional areas. “When we get our 700Mhz spectrum frequency turned on in January, you will find that right across Australia Telstra will have another car right on its wing, competing with it in a way that it has never had to deal with before,” he said.

[greengiraffe]

We’ll pay to get best CEO: Optus
MITCHELL BINGEMANN THE AUSTRALIAN APRIL 21, 2014 12:00AM

SINGTEL is ready to raise the $1.75 million pay packet for the vacant Optus chief executive role as the telco continues its search for a candidate who can handle being on the national stage of Australia’s fiercely competitive $35 billion a year telecom sector.

SingTel’s chief executive of its consumer arm, Paul O’Sullivan, told The Australian that the company had a shortlist of ­potential candidates and that “market rates” would be offered if it meant the telco could secure a world-class chief executive.

The head of Optus’s consumer business, Vicki Brady, remains the favourite internal candidate, but the Singaporean telecoms giant is also looking overseas for candidates.

“The sort of person we will bring in will either be one of our own or we will look around to see where the best talent in the world is. But expect that to take up to six months. That’s just the reality,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

The hunt for a new chief has been led by headhunter Russell Reynolds but sources close to the company said the search had been a “struggle”.

One major concern has been the ability for SingTel to match international market rates for top talent.

According to SingTel’s 2013 annual report, former Optus chief Kevin Russell was paid $1.75m last year, less than half the $3.6m that Telstra’s chief ­financial officer Andy Penn — who has been linked with the Optus job — took home at ­Telstra.

But Mr O’Sullivan said it was impractical to stick to rigid budgets when trying to attract the best talent.

“Clearly we will bring in someone who will be really good for Optus and someone who will be really good at making a mark in Australia and you pay whatever the market requires for that,” he said.

“You don’t fill a job like this by putting an ad in Seek. Those sorts of people aren’t sitting around looking for a job, so we will have to spend time researching and romancing them.”

Sources also say the search process has been hampered because of the role’s tiered reporting structure, which requires any prospective Optus chief executive to report to Mr O’Sullivan, who in turn reports to SingTel chief Chua Sock Koong. Mr O’Sullivan said such perceptions were “crazy”.

The hunt for a new CEO comes at a critical time for Optus, which over the last 18 months has been outspent and outgrown by its main rival Telstra.

Under Mr Russell there was a push to improve Optus’s standing among customers by offering superior service and overhauling mobile phone plans to increase customer retention.

Mr O’Sullivan said any incoming CEO would not deviate from that core strategy.

“We have a unique opportunity in the year ahead. Not only do we have the strength in terms of the company’s fitness and how it has lifted its performance on customer service, but we also have for the first time a much closer parity with Telstra on network,” he said.

“This has got to be one of the best jobs in Australia. I did it for 8 years and if I could … I’d love to apply for it again.”

[CityFarmer]

SingTel gearing-up for its big-ticket items, both in Digital Life and Optus...

SingTel Group inks agreements for S$3.5 billion of credit facilities with international banks

Singapore, 22 April 2014 – Singapore Telecommunications Limited (SingTel) today
announced that its subsidiaries entered into agreements for total credit facilities of
approximately S$3.5 billion for general corporate purposes and refinancing of existing
facilities
...
http://infopub.sgx.com/FileOpen/NR-20140...greementsS$3%205%20billion.ashx?App=Announcement&FileID=292430