Telecom industry consolidation doesn't mean a TPG crash out

EQUITY analysts were all agog on StarHub's third-quarter earnings call last week, but much of their interest had little to do with the mainboard-listed telco's three-month top line.

Rather, their focus was on the S$9 million booked in "other income", even though that was just slightly over one-tenth of operating profits.

The relatively small sum grabbed the attention of stock watchers because - as StarHub chief executive Peter Kaliaropoulos explained - it largely represented fees from rival mobile network operator (MNO) TPG Telecom for access to in-tunnel coverage on shared network facilities.