Data monetisation: Telcos' holy grail in 2014

[SINGAPORE] DATA monetisation will be the telco sector's great white hope next year as operators face a tougher fight on all fronts.

As tiered data pricing comes into its own for the industry through the 4G data plans, increased data spending will be counted on to shore up falling average revenues per user (ARPU).

Tiered data bundles make up 25-30 per cent of the sector's overall subscriber base in Singapore, according to Fitch Ratings.

At StarHub, where 38 per cent of its mobile post-paid customers are on tiered data plans as at the third quarter of 2013, hopes are high that next year will be even better for data revenue.

"We are primed for data monetisation next year as we expect more customers to adop…