Not end of the road for TPG even if it doesn't snare 5G licence

SINGAPORE'S call for proposals to set up the nation's 5G networks has yet to close but pundits already think that they have identified the likely winners and losers of the bidding exercise.

With two nationwide licences up for grabs, analysts at both DBS Bank and Credit Suisse this month predicted that Singtel will bag one, with the other going to a joint bid by StarHub and M1.

But they differ on where this three-way outcome would leave the fourth mobile network operator (MNO) - newcomer TPG Telecom - in the picture.

DBS analyst Sachin Mittal believes a bid failure would force TPG out of the market, but Credit Suisse's researchers think otherwise.

Credit Suisse expects TPG to iron out a wholesale netw…