Singapore Telecommunications
Encyclopedia
Singapore Telecommunications Limited , commonly abbreviated as SingTel, is a Singaporean telecommunications company, with a combined mobile subscriber base of 416 million customers from its own operations and regional associates in 25 countries at end of June 2011 increased by 19 percent from a year ago, making it one of the largest mobile network operators in the world. The company was known as Telecommunications Equipment until 1995. SingTel provides ISP (SingNet
), IPTV
(mio TV
), mobile phone (SingTel Mobile Singapore
) and fixed line telephony services.
SingTel has expanded aggressively outside its home market and owns shares in many regional operators, including 100% of the second largest Australia
n telco, Optus
, which was acquired in 2000 from Cable & Wireless
and other shareholder
s of Optus, and 32% (second largest shareholder after the promoters) of Bharti Airtel
, the largest telco in India
.
SingTel is also the largest company by market capitalisation listed on the Singapore Exchange
and is majority owned by Temasek Holdings
, the investment arm of the Singapore government.
and the United States
.
industry, where it has a total subscription base of 368 million as of 30 September 2010 :
Other members of the SingTel group include the three wholly owned subsidiaries of SingNet
, a wholly owned internet service provider
, SingTel Digital Media Pte Ltd (STDM) which owns content portal, insing.com and NCS
, an information technology and communications engineering services provider. Associated companies include the Singapore Post
, which was formerly a subsidiary until its separate listing on the Singapore Exchange
in May 2003 and the New Century Infocomm of Taiwan
which SingTel has a 24.5% stake. SingTel also owns 20.33% stake in Hong Kong
's APT Satellite.
SingNet
SingNet is a subsidiary internet service provider branch of Singapore Telecommunications. It is one of four commercial internet system providers in Singapore .-Services:*Consumer Dial-up services...
), IPTV
IPTV
Internet Protocol television is a system through which television services are delivered using the Internet protocol suite over a packet-switched network such as the Internet, instead of being delivered through traditional terrestrial, satellite signal, and cable television formats.IPTV services...
(mio TV
Mio TV
mio TV is a 24-hours pay-TV service, introduced by SingTel. It is transmitted through the company's SingNet broadband network via an IPTV service and uses Microsoft Mediaroom as its end to end software platform. It is a service that will allow multimedia content - including broadcast channels and...
), mobile phone (SingTel Mobile Singapore
SingTel Mobile
SingTel Mobile Singapore is a fully owned subsidiary of SingTel Group and offers mobile telecom services in Singapore. Currently the largest mobile operator in the country with about 3.16 million subscribers or 45.7% of the mobile phone market share as of September 2010, it enjoyed a monopoly over...
) and fixed line telephony services.
SingTel has expanded aggressively outside its home market and owns shares in many regional operators, including 100% of the second largest Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n telco, Optus
Optus
SingTel Optus Pty Limited is the second largest telecommunications company in Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications...
, which was acquired in 2000 from Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless
Cable & Wireless Worldwide PLC is a global telecommunications company headquartered in Bracknell, United Kingdom. Cable & Wireless specialises in providing communication networks and services to large corporates, governments, carrier customers and resellers...
and other shareholder
Shareholder
A shareholder or stockholder is an individual or institution that legally owns one or more shares of stock in a public or private corporation. Shareholders own the stock, but not the corporation itself ....
s of Optus, and 32% (second largest shareholder after the promoters) of Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited , commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation...
, the largest telco in India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
SingTel is also the largest company by market capitalisation listed on the Singapore Exchange
Singapore Exchange
Singapore Exchange Limited is an investment holding company located in Singapore and providing different services related to securities and derivatives trading and others. SGX is a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges FederationSingapore Exchange...
and is majority owned by Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings is an investment company owned by the government of Singapore. With an international staff of 380 people, it manages a portfolio of about S$193 billion at end of March 2011, focused primarily in Asia...
, the investment arm of the Singapore government.
2011
- In May 2011, SingTel announced that they will be aiming to double the size of its satellite business, with two additional launches by 2013.
- In late September 2011, SingTel was once again the sponsor of Formula 1 Racing.
- With the two other Singapore mobile operators, which are M1 Limited and StarHubStarHubStarHub Limited is a full-fledged telecommunications company providing a full range of services over mobile, internet and fixed platforms in Singapore...
, it introduces iPhone 4S on 28 October
2009
- On July 10, SingTel announced that they are launching iPhone 3GSIPhone 3GS-Camera:The iPhone 3GS features an improved 3 megapixel camera manufactured by OmniVision. In addition to the higher megapixel count, it also features auto-focus, auto white balance and auto macro and is capable of capturing VGA video...
commercially. - On October 1, SingTel has won the rights to broadcast the Barclays Premier League matches across its platforms, as well as exclusive broadcast rights to ESPN STAR SportsESPN Star SportsESPN Star Sports is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Company and News Corporation...
for mio TVMio TVmio TV is a 24-hours pay-TV service, introduced by SingTel. It is transmitted through the company's SingNet broadband network via an IPTV service and uses Microsoft Mediaroom as its end to end software platform. It is a service that will allow multimedia content - including broadcast channels and...
.
2008
- SingTel and Apple jointly announced that Singtel will be the first mobile operator to launch iPhone 3GIPhone 3GThe iPhone 3G is the second generation of iPhone designed and marketed by Apple Inc.. It was the successor to the original iPhone, and is succeeded by the iPhone 3GS. Introduced on June 9, 2008 at the WWDC 2008 at the Moscone Center, San Francisco...
and its services to Singapore in June.
- In the month of June, SingTel was the title sponsor of the inaugural Formula OneFormula OneFormula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
night race in Singapore. It was once again the title sponsor of the Singapore 2009 Formula One night race.
2007
- Mio TVMio TVmio TV is a 24-hours pay-TV service, introduced by SingTel. It is transmitted through the company's SingNet broadband network via an IPTV service and uses Microsoft Mediaroom as its end to end software platform. It is a service that will allow multimedia content - including broadcast channels and...
was launched commercially on 20 July 2007 and began its services on 21 July 2007.
2003
- SingTel sold 60% of Singapore Post (SingPost) in May during an IPO in an effort to focus on its core telecommunications services business.
- SingTel divested its stakes in Yellow Pages in June, its directory business to CVC Asia Pacific and J.P. Morgan Partners Asia for S$220 million.
- SingTel announced that it has appointed Ericsson as the vendor for its 3G network in Singapore in July.
1992
- SingTel was incorporated in March (as Telecommunications Equipment) and became a public company in October 1993. SingTel currently remains as Singapore’s largest IPO. It was listed on the Singapore Exchange in November 1993 and on the Australian Stock Exchange in September 2001.
- SingTel introduced the somewhat-popular Call zone service, made defunct in 1997.
1955
- The Singapore Telephone Board (STB) was incorporated as a statutory board with exclusive rights to operate telephone service within Singapore. This was followed by the merger of STB and Telecommunications Authority of Singapore (TAS) in 1974. Up until that time, STB was responsible for local services, while TAS provided international services. 1982 saw the merger of the Postal Department with Telecoms.
1879
- Three years after Alexander Graham BellAlexander Graham BellAlexander Graham Bell was an eminent scientist, inventor, engineer and innovator who is credited with inventing the first practical telephone....
patented his telephone invention, Bennet Pell started a private telephone exchange in Singapore that had 50 lines.
Board of Directors
- Chairman, Singtel: Simon Israel
- Group CEO, SingTel: Chua Sock KoongChua Sock KoongChua Sock Koong is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Telecommunications. She was the company's Deputy Group CEO and Chief Financial Officer , a position she assumed in February 2006, before she took over Lee Hsien Yang's CEO post in April 2007.Previously as a CFO, Chua was...
- Chairman, Great Eastern LifeGreat Eastern LifeGreat Eastern Life Assurance is based in Singapore and the largest life insurance company in Singapore and Malaysia. It is also the oldest insurance company in Asia. It is the largest insurance group in Singapore and Malaysia with S$ 45 billion in assets and 3 million policyholders...
: Fang Ai Lian - Founder, HOPU Investment Management Co.: Dominic Chiu Fai Ho
- Partners, NewSmith Capital Partners LLP: Low Check Kian
- Chairman, AMP Limited: Peter Edward Mason
- Chairman, Credit SuisseCredit SuisseThe Credit Suisse Group AG is a Swiss multinational financial services company headquartered in Zurich, with more than 250 branches in Switzerland and operations in more than 50 countries.-History:...
, Asia Pacific: Kaikhushru Nargolwala - Head of Singapore’s Civil ServiceSingapore Civil ServiceThe Singapore Civil Service is the set of civil servants working for the Government of Singapore. Many of its principles were inherited from the administrative system left by the British Civil Service, as Singapore was once a British colony....
, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance of SingaporeMinistry of Finance (Singapore)The Ministry of Finance , is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for administering and regulating financial institutions and structures of the economy of Singapore. It is headed by the Minister for Finance...
, Permanent Secretary (Special Duties) in the Prime Minister’s OfficePrime Minister's Office (Singapore)The Prime Minister's Office is a ministry of the Government of Singapore that handles the ministries and other political matters that are of great importance to the nation, such as corruption and elections. It is headed by the Prime Minister and his top political staff...
and the Permanent Secretary for National Security and Intelligence Co-ordination: Peter Ong - Chairman, Infocomm Investments: Ong Peng Tsin
Senior Management
- Group CEO: Chua Sock KoongChua Sock KoongChua Sock Koong is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Telecommunications. She was the company's Deputy Group CEO and Chief Financial Officer , a position she assumed in February 2006, before she took over Lee Hsien Yang's CEO post in April 2007.Previously as a CFO, Chua was...
- Group CFO: Jeann Low
- Group CIO: Ng Yoke Weng
- CEO Singapore: Allen LewAllen LewAllen Lew is the Chief Executive Officer of Singapore Telecommunications for Singapore operations. He started his career with SingTel and worked with various senior management positions in SingTel and its associates....
- CEO International: Hui Weng Cheong
- CEO SingTel OptusOptusSingTel Optus Pty Limited is the second largest telecommunications company in Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications...
: Paul O'Sullivan
Global Offices
SingTel has 35 offices in 19 countries located throughout the Asia Pacific region, EuropeEurope
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Network and Infrastructure
SingTel has a well-established and extensive communications network and infrastructure in Singapore and Australia. The Group’s advanced mobile networks cover 100% and 94% of the Singapore and Australian populations respectively. In addition, the Group has interests in about 50 submarine cables with landing points in more than 50 locations in Asia. It is a major investor in many of the world's most sophisticated submarine cable systems, such as SEA-ME-WE 3, SEA-ME-WE 4, APCN, APCN 2, China-US, Japan-US, C2C, i2i and Southern Cross.Subsidiaries
The SingTel group of companies includes subsidiaries, associated companies, as well as shareholdings in overseas entities. Its mainstay is in the mobile phoneMobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
industry, where it has a total subscription base of 368 million as of 30 September 2010 :
| Mobile company | Country |
|---|---|
| Advanced Info Service Advanced Info Service Advanced Info Service PCL is Thailand's largest GSM mobile phone operator with 28.8 million customers as of February 2010. Founded in April 1986, AIS started off as a computer rental business... |
 ThailandThailand Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the... |
| Bharti Group Bharti Airtel Bharti Airtel Limited , commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian telecommunications company that operates in 20 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands. It operates a GSM network in all countries, providing 2G or 3G services depending upon the country of operation... |
 IndiaIndia India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world... |
| Globe Telecom Globe Telecom Globe Telecom , commonly known as Globe, is a telecommunications company in the Philippines. Globe provides mobile, fixed line, and broadband Internet services.- History :In 1928, Congress passed Act No... |
 PhilippinesPhilippines The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam... |
| Optus Optus SingTel Optus Pty Limited is the second largest telecommunications company in Australia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications... |
 AustraliaAustralia Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area... |
| Citycell Citycell Citycell is the first mobile communications company of Bangladesh. It is the only CDMA network operator in the country. As of 1 March 2008, Citycell's total mobile subscriber base is 1.56 million, up 137 per cent or 680,000 from two years ago, giving it the best growth rate of the company till date... |
 BangladeshBangladesh Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south... |
| Telkomsel Telkomsel Telkomsel is a brand name of a GSM and UMTS Mobile phone network operator which is operating in Indonesia. It was found in 1995, and is a subsidiary of Telkom Indonesia.... |
 IndonesiaIndonesia Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an... |
| Warid Telecom Warid Telecom Warid Telecom International is an Abu Dhabi based mobile telecommunication firm providing telephony services in Congo, Pakistan and Uganda. Warid is expected to launch in the Ivory Coast and Georgia soon.-Pakistan:... |
 PakistanPakistan Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan... |
| Lankacom Lankacom LankaCom is a Sri Lanka-based telecoms company. Founded in 1991, it is a subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications and was the first company granted a Communication Operator License in the country.- References :... |
 Sri LankaSri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the... |
Other members of the SingTel group include the three wholly owned subsidiaries of SingNet
SingNet
SingNet is a subsidiary internet service provider branch of Singapore Telecommunications. It is one of four commercial internet system providers in Singapore .-Services:*Consumer Dial-up services...
, a wholly owned internet service provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
, SingTel Digital Media Pte Ltd (STDM) which owns content portal, insing.com and NCS
NCS Pte Ltd
NCS Group is a multinational information technology and communications engineering company headquartered in Singapore...
, an information technology and communications engineering services provider. Associated companies include the Singapore Post
Singapore Post
Singapore Post Limited or commonly known as is Singapore's designated Public Postal Licensee which provides domestic and international postal services. It also provides logistics services in the domestic market and global delivery services...
, which was formerly a subsidiary until its separate listing on the Singapore Exchange
Singapore Exchange
Singapore Exchange Limited is an investment holding company located in Singapore and providing different services related to securities and derivatives trading and others. SGX is a member of the World Federation of Exchanges and the Asian and Oceanian Stock Exchanges FederationSingapore Exchange...
in May 2003 and the New Century Infocomm of Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
which SingTel has a 24.5% stake. SingTel also owns 20.33% stake in Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
's APT Satellite.