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Telcos gird their loins for a challenging future

TPG Telecom's delayed entry buys time for incumbent network operators to beef up their offerings

Annabeth Leow
Published Fri, Dec 14, 2018 · 09:50 PM

Singapore

LIKE a good detective story, the narrative threads are coming together in Singapore's telco market.

The basic plot elements are the same, starting with the murder - of average revenues per user (ARPUs) - and the usual suspects, like mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs).

But the suspense ended elsewhere, such as September's general offer for M1 by two major shareholders - a twist prefigured when a review in 2017 found no attractive third-party buyers for Keppel Corp and Singapore Press Holdings' (SPH) stakes. SPH publishes The Business Times.

Still, OCBC analyst Joseph Ng noted that "there is no indication of any fundamental change in the industry's dynamics" from the general offer.

He added, in a separate e-mail to BT: "Heading into the new year, we believe that the incumbents will broadly be looking to build on their existing strategy - building resilience into existing businesses while pushing into growing or new frontiers."…

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