Will MyRepublic's multi-play telco strategy give it the edge?

WHEN it comes to what observers fear is a looming price war in the crowded consumer telco market, battle lines are no longer neatly drawn between asset-heavy mobile network operators (MNOs) and their mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) clients.

And the refusal to participate in rate-slashing marks the entrance of a different breed of telco - one that wants the best of both worlds. Such a move has bucked industry predictions that MVNOs would compete on price, even as the market here added its third such operator in under a year.

The newest kid on the block - MyRepublic, a seven-year-old fibre broadband player and freshly minted MVNO - recently upped the ante with a strategy that points to chief executive Malcolm Rodrigues' decision to compete on traditional telco ground.