Giant telcos call for help as travellers ditch roaming plans

Quantity doesn’t spell profit for both SingTel and StarHub.

The country’s two biggest telcos appear to be pouring cash into a leaking bucket, as Singapore’s travellers are beginning to forgo their roaming plans for other applications.

In spite of increasing investments and stellar subscriber growth, SingTel’s and StarHub’s average revenue per user (ARPU) remain tanked in 1Q14.

According to UOB Kay Hian, SingTel’s and StarHub’s post-paid ARPU declined 2.9% and 3.8% yoy respectively to S$66/month and S$75/month.

This decline could be chalked up to the fact that the telcos’ main roaming customers, who are often frequent travellers, are now switching to other data applications.

According to UOB, “This segment suffers more from cannibalisation on roaming revenue as
customers switch to using data and social networking applications.”

SingTel’s and StarHub’s post-paid subscriber base grew at 9.7% and 5.9% respectively in 2013, and both companies continued to maintain expansion of post-paid subscriber base at 10.4% and 5% respectively.

If you've been wondering whether SBR could work for your company — yes, probably.

A lot of the companies we partner with started as readers. They'd been following our coverage for a while, saw their own customers and competitors in it, and eventually asked the obvious question: could we do something with you? The answer is usually yes. The shape of it depends on what you're trying to do.

The options are broader than most people assume — thought leadership articles, sponsored content, industry summits across Southeast Asia, regional awards programmes, podcasts, and media placements in print and digital. Some partners use one channel; most use a mix. We figure out the right combination by starting with your brief, not with our rate card.

So if the question has been on your mind, here's the easy way to ask it.

We'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and how. It's a better use of everyone's time.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia