Singapore's SingTel Wants To Pump Another $1.6B Into Startup Investments

Singapore’s largest telecoms provider, SingTel, plans to set aside $1.6 billion (S$2 billion) over the next three years for startup acquisitions, it said in an earnings call (via?ZDNet). It wasn’t clear on what those acquisitions would be specifically, but going by those it has made in recent years, we can expect the telco to continue focusing on digital content and augmenting its cloud offerings. SingTel’s earnings for the three months ended March 20123 showed a 33 percent drop in net profit. This was blamed on the divestment of its 30 percent stake in Warid Pakistan, which cost it a one-time $180 million (S$225 million). Not counting the divestment, SingTel’s underlying net loss was 2 percent, as the telco faces “significant industry challenges”, it said. It noted that it plans to reverse this trend by continuing to invest in “next-generation growth engines” in the digital industry. Its earnings report also showed that its digital investments are paying off. Out of a total $1.34 billion (S$1.68 billion) in revenue for the quarter, most of it comes from providing mobile and Internet services, which brought in $393 million (S$491 million) and $335 million (S$419 million), respectively. Its manages services arm, NCS, brought in $303 million (S$378 million). Mobile and Internet services grew 4 percent each in the quarter over the corresponding quarter a year prior, while NCS shrank 4 percent. Meanwhile, its digital business which includes Amobee, was only responsible for $19 million (S$24 million), but showed promising growth of 156 percent. This is of a much smaller base, of course, but with growth of its other businesses slowing down considerably, SingTel’s shift in focus towards growth areas shows its intention to turn things around. SingTel’s plans to elevate itself above being a “dumb pipe” telco?can be tracked back to the?major restructuring of its business arms last year. It divided itself into three pillars called Consumer, ICT and Digital Life. The first two focus on consumer and enterprise segments, respectively, but the Digital Life arm is most representative of the change. The division was set up as a reaction to over-the-top competition from third party content providers, and SingTel said Digital Life was going to compete head on, providing smart TV, digital magazines and local content. Some of the acquisitions its made in that direction include restaurant review sites, Hungrygowhere and Eatability, and photo app Pixable. SingTel has also been bullish as a

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