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Research firm: mobile content revenues to reach US$65bn in 2016

By:
8 May
2013
No Comments
 

Android apps on Google Play store

Users will spend US$65 billion on e-books, games and other content on their smartphones and tablets by 2016, up from this year’s US$40 billion, according to a research report released today.

The upsurge, according to Juniper Research, will be fueled by tablet users buying games, videos and e-books on their mobile devices, along with easier direct payment methods offered on smartphones by telecom operators.

 
Tagged in: broadband, Cellphones, Internet, Media, Singapore, Tablet, mobile content. Juniper Research, StarHub,  
 

Commentary: SingTel playing a risky game with its pay-TV stance

By:
27 Apr
2013
6 Comments
 

singtel-logo

Some of the grumbling from SingTel in the past two days has been rather astonishing.

Right after being told to share its Barclays Premier League screenings with StarHub, it threatened to raise prices for football fans next season. It took things further yesterday, saying it might not be bidding for World Cup rights in 2014.

To which football fans should say “thank you”. Let someone else bid lower so viewers don’t have to pay so much.

 
Tagged in: Pay-TV, Singapore, BPL, cross carriage, EPL, mda, SingTel, StarHub,  
 

Commentary: MDA tells SingTel to show BPL matches on rival channels

By:
25 Apr
2013
2 Comments
 


(credit: Ronnie Macdonald, Creative Commons)

Singapore’s football fans will be relieved the ref has got a crucial decision right on Wednesday evening.

Ignoring SingTel’s pleas of innocence, the country’s media regulator clearly told the team in red to show the next three seasons of the Barclays Premier League on rival services, such as StarHub’s cable TV, starting in August.

In a landmark ruling, it essentially laid out how it will deal with pay-TV operators that have somehow found a loophole in its efforts to open up the market and rid it of ruinous exclusive content contracts that have killed consumer choice for years.

 
Tagged in: Featured, Media, Pay-TV, Singapore, BPL, cross carriage, EPL, FAPL, mda, SingTel, StarHub, TV rights,  
 

StarHub joins e-book bandwagon with store and reader app

By:
2 Apr
2013
No Comments
 

Booktique

StarHub launched a new e-book store and reader app of its own last Tuesday called Booktique, which brings about 400,000 titles to all iOS and Android users regardless of their mobile operators of choice.

The number looks paltry compared to the millions upon millions of e-books available elsewhere, but similar to other local e-book stores such as MediaCorp’s ilovebooks, Booktique also offers e-books written by Singapore authors.

 
Tagged in: Singapore, Software, booktique, ebook, ebook reader, ereader, Singapore, StarHub,  
 

StarHub to deliver pay-TV over fibre, but only to businesses for now

By:
15 Mar
2013
5 Comments
 

(source: StarHub)

StarHub is using Singapore’s fibre network to deliver its pay-TV services to offices, restaurants and pubs from March 18, as it seeks to cut down on current terrestrial broadcasts to such business customers.

 
Tagged in: broadband, Internet, IPTV, Pay-TV, cable TV, Pay-TV, StarHub,  
 

Commentary: MDA has to sort out StarHub-SingTel football wrangle

By:
6 Mar
2013
4 Comments
 

Robin_Van_Persie_vs_Aston_Villa
(credit: Ronnie Macdonald, Creative Commons)

Being a referee is never easy.

In the latest wrangle between SingTel and StarHub for English Premier League TV rights, the Media Development Authority (MDA) has found itself exactly in that tight spot.

But unlike a match where at least one set of fans will be pleased, a bad call by the officials here will have serious impact beyond just football rights. It will drastically drag back Singapore’s pay-TV industry, just as it is showing signs of opening up.

 
Tagged in: Featured, Internet, IPTV, Media, Pay-TV, Singapore, cross carriage, EPL, mda, SingTel, StarHub, TV rights,  
 

StarHub promises clearer mobile calls with free HD Voice service

By:
3 Mar
2013
No Comments
 

StarHub will be turning on a new service that promises to let users speak more clearly over their cellphones – without all the annoying background noise – from this Thursday.

Called HD Voice, the technology is similar to noise cancellation technology on phones and Bluetooth headsets that already lets users speak clearly, say, in a crowded cafe or market. The other party hears the caller’s voice, without the background chatter.

 
Tagged in: Cellphones, Singapore, 3G, HD Voice, StarHub,  
 

Commentary: SingTel and StarHub to challenge WhatsApp? Can they?

By:
21 Feb
2013
2 Comments
 

Whatsapp-Android-Intro

Sometimes, the numbers tell the story best.

WhatsApp, that instant messaging service fast replacing SMS as the preferred way to text friends, is estimated to have as many as 200 to 300 million users worldwide. Today, there could be billions of WhatsApp messages sent every day, because back in 2011, a long time ago in cyberspace, the number had crossed a billion a day.

Now, compare that with the 1.78 billion SMSes sent in Singapore in December 2012. Yes, that’s an entire month.

If nothing else, that shows you the scale of things. It’s something that SingTel and StarHub will have to take heed, as they decide to take on the likes of WhatsApp by coming up with their own messaging apps.

 
Tagged in: Cellphones, Enterprise, Internet, Singapore, Software, instant messaging, Singapore telecoms, SingTel, StarHub, WhatsApp,  
 

Neil Montefiore to retire as StarHub CEO, Tan Tong Hai takes over next month

By:
7 Feb
2013
No Comments
 

Tan Tong Hai  Neil Montefiore
(credit: StarHub)

Three years after he took over StarHub in a surprise move, company CEO Neil Montefiore will be retiring to make way for current chief operating officer, Tan Tong Hai, who takes over next month.

Montefiore took over from long-time StarHub CEO Terry Clontz in January 2010, in a high-profile move from rival M1. At M1, he had steered Singapore’s second mobile operator through the initial years of the country’s telecom liberalisation in the 1990s.

 
Tagged in: broadband, Cellphones, Enterprise, Internet, Singapore, CEO, M1, Neil Montefiore, StarHub, Tan Tong Hai, telecom,  
 

Microsoft confirms Singapore pricing for Office 365, pushes for subscriptions

By:
30 Jan
2013
9 Comments
 

ZA103480054

Microsoft is selling its new Office software for S$138 a year, or S$11.50 a month, to home users  in Singapore, as part of a new subscription service that it hopes will change its fortunes against Google and Apple this year.

Available today, that offer gives users five licences, which means they can install Office on multiple devices at home, including PCs and Macs. 

 
Tagged in: Enterprise, PCs, Singapore, Software, Microsoft, Office 15, office 365, Singapore price, Singapore price and availability, StarHub,