Starhub

Starhub

Postby iam802 » Thu Aug 14, 2008 5:09 pm

Not so much about economic news. (feel free to move it to appropriate thread)

But, I just noticed today Starhub has tied up with SGX to offer real time market data on Channel 800. (need to be cable user)

Pretty neat. Even has the ability for you to enter your holdings and hence P&L.

Announcement from SGX here:
http://info.sgx.com/webnewscentre.nsf/b ... enDocument
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Re: Starhub

Postby iam802 » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:12 pm

Press Release: StarHub to Take Consortium Lead in Bid to be Network Company of Singapore's Next-Generation National Broadband Network (Next-Gen NBN)

http://info.sgx.com/webcorannc.nsf/ef3b ... enDocument
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Starhub

Postby ishak » Wed Aug 20, 2008 8:15 pm

StarHub unveils new on-demand TV shows
Business Times - 20 Aug 2008

2 types of offerings: pay-per-view shows; and 6 new channels, including HK drama serials, Hokkien fare

STARHUB has fired its latest salvo in the battle for eyeballs in the local pay-TV industry with a host of new cable channels, including one which promises to screen the latest episodes of CSI just a day after their US debut.

Instead of following a fixed broadcast schedule, the new content line-up is made up of so-called 'on-demand' channels that allow viewers to tune in to any programme they want at their own convenience.

Two types of on-demand content will be offered by StarHub from today.

The first category consists of pay-per-view programmes such as Hollywood blockbusters and Asian films, as well as drama series and sporting events.

The company has also struck a deal with content partner CBS to bring the latest season of hit shows like CSI to local viewers a day after their premiere in the United States.

As an added incentive, on-demand Asian programmes such as TVBS drama series will be aired in both Mandarin and their native tongue, said Patrick Lim, StarHub's head of cable TV services.

There is no fixed monthly charge for using this service. Instead, consumers can buy these programmes through their cable TV remote controls for as low as $1 on a per-episode basis, or pay more for a longer- term season pass. The charges will be automatically added to their monthly bills.

The second category of programming comes in the form of six new on-demand channels from StarHub. These include TVBJ on-demand, an offering dedicated to fans of Hong Kong TVB drama serials; and Ruyi, a new channel made up of Hokkien variety shows and music programmes from Taiwan.

Unlike pay-per-view content, consumers will have to call up the StarHub hotline to subscribe to these offerings, which carry a monthly price tag of $4 to $6.

Two of these channels - HBO on-demand and BPL (Barclays Premier League) on-demand - are offered free to subscribers who have already signed up for StarHub's HBO or Sports group bundles.

StarHub's new programming will work only with a special set-top box called the Hubstation, an all-in- one cable TV receiver which doubles up as a broadband modem and digital phone gateway.

Customers can rent this unit from StarHub for $8.56 monthly but the fee will be waived for subscribers who are already using the Hubstation.

More on-demand channels and content will be added over the coming months, according to Mabel Tan, StarHub's senior manager of content services.

'We have been in discussions with all the major US studios,' she told reporters at a media briefing yesterday.

The ability to choose programmes and dictate their playback timings has long been touted by SingTel as a key selling point for its fledging mio TV service.

Since launching this Internet television platform last year, the company has been trying to challenge StarHub's pay-TV stranglehold through a series of exclusive content partnerships.

Having secured sole broadcast rights to this year's Champion's League in Singapore, SingTel went on to seal a tie-up with three US studios last month. These partnerships will give SingTel the ability to screen over 50 popular TV programmes such as Prison Break and Ugly Betty a day after their home country debut.

By June this year, SingTel had attracted 45,000 mio TV customers but StarHub still has a commanding lead with a cable TV subscriber base of 511,000.
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Re: Starhub

Postby millionairemind » Thu Aug 21, 2008 9:09 am

Published August 21, 2008

StarHub and M1 lose HK broadband bid partner
City Telecom pulls out of alliance; Qatar entity steps in as replacement
By WINSTON CHAI

(SINGAPORE) The two-horse race to the finish line of a mammoth government tender for building Singapore's new broadband highway took a dramatic twist with Hong Kong's City Telecom pulling out of its alliance with local operators StarHub and M1.

This sudden development came to light yesterday afternoon when the IDA updated its website for this project.

The withdrawal of the Hong Kong-based telecommunications conglomerate comes a month before the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) announces the results of its ongoing NetCo (Network Company) tender evaluation.

This sudden development came to light yesterday afternoon when the IDA updated its website for this project. The regulator requires all bidders to seek its approval before changes can be made to their membership make-up.

City Telecom was previously leading the Infinity Consortium - a grouping which includes StarHub and M1 - in the bid to build the broadband highway. It was the only member of the grouping with hands-on experience in building a similar network. Singapore's largest telco, SingTel, submitted the only other proposal as part of OpenNet, a group led by Canada's Axia NetMedia which includes two other members - Singapore Press Holdings and Singapore Power subsidiary SP Telecommunications.

With City Telecom pulling out, StarHub will now take the helm at the Infinity Consortium. No reason was given for its sudden departure but StarHub said the void left by City Telecom would be filled by the Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the investment arm of the state of Qatar.

Although it has not been officially announced, City Telecom was the likely majority shareholder in the three-party venture. This was because M1 and StarHub are unlikely to have more than a 30 per cent stake each in the NetCo. This is the result of an IDA clause to ensure fair and open competition in the Republic's new broadband playing field.

'From today, QIA becomes a long-term strategic partner through its participation in the consortium. QIA expects to provide the Infinity Consortium with substantial financial support and expertise in business operations and oversight of the management of the Next-Gen NBN rollout,' said a StarHub statement.

Although the government is providing a subsidy of up to $750 million to lay Singapore's new broadband foundation, market analysts have previously said the massive project could require a similarly large investment from the NetCo.

This would translate to each member of the winning group pumping in amounts in the region of hundred of millions.

While the inclusion of cash-rich QIA may ease the financial strain, industry watchers say the Infinity Consortium may not be able to replace the technical expertise that is lost with City Telecom's exit. This is because the company has previously deployed a similar fibre-optic or FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) network in Hong Kong.

'The withdrawal of City Telecom from the Infinity Consortium is likely to affect its chances for the tender as City Telecom is the only member in the consortium with a proven track record of implementing a nation-wide, FTTH broadband network,' noted Kenneth Liew, a senior market analyst with technology research firm IDC Asia-Pacific. 'Its replacement - QIA - may not have experience in implementing such networks but it will have the financial power to support such projects.'

'It should be noted that IDA's evaluation parameters (for the NetCo) include the level of government grant required, service pricing, terms and conditions, apart from the technical aspects,' said Soh Siow Meng, a senior analyst at Current Analysis. 'While it is not good to lose City Telecom, I don't think we should rule out the Infinity Consortium just yet,' he added.

IDA is expected to announce the winner of the NetCo bid by the end of next month.
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Starhub - Analyst CIMB

Postby ishak » Sat Sep 06, 2008 1:43 am

Football woes
5 September 2008
UNDERPERFORM/Downgraded
Price: S$2.71 @04/09/08
Target: S$2.30

• Downgrading our call. We cut StarHub to a counter-consensus UNDERPERFORM recommendation from neutral, as we believe competition has yet to fully play out.
• A lose-lose scenario emerging. A fierce bidding war is on the cards between StarHub and SingTel as the crown jewel of content – the rights for the Barclays Premier League – for the 2010-2012 seasons and the 2010 World Cup will up for bidding by mid-09. Pay TV is a key laggard in SingTel’s portfolio and a hindrance to any meaningful quad-play proposition. StarHub stands to foot a much heftier bill to win or it may lose substantial market share if it loses out to SingTel. The potential loss of StarHub’s BPL rights may threaten its successful strategy of bundling multiple services by giving SingTel a crucial foothold in this space.
• Lower mobile margins and growth. We expect mobile margins to be structurally lower and growth to slow due to ARPU and cost pressures with MNP in place.
• Capital management? Don’t hold your breath as we think StarHub will be conservative on its balance sheet ahead of the bids for BPL, World Cup and NGNBN. At 1.4x net debt/annualised EBITDA, its gearing is at a record high.
• Cutting earnings forecast and target price. We revise StarHub’s core FY08-10 net profit forecast by -22% to +0.7%, namely on higher content costs. As a result, our DCF-based target price falls to S$2.30 (WACC 7.5%, terminal growth: 1.7%) from S$3.00. De-rating catalysts include a) rising concerns over the cost of content, in particular football, b) delay in capital management and c) continued stiff competition.

Valuation and recommendation
Downgrade to UNDERPERFORM. We downgrade our recommendation to a counterconsensus UNDERPERFORM from neutral as we believe content cost will escalate in issue as we head towards end-08 and early-09. Moreover, margins are bound to come under pressure as SingTel shows little sign of letting up in the competition front and the threat of devaluation to its hubbing strategy. We see StarHub in a lose-lose scenario when the next round of bidding for the BPL and World Cup comes due. De-rating catalysts include rising concerns over the cost of content, in particular that of football. As head towards the end of the year, we expect investor attention to turn to events in 2009, and will likely focus on the bidding war for both the rights for World Cup and BPL in mid-09; b) delay in capital management and c) heightening competition locally. We advocate selling into strength of any short term expectations of abatement in competition or expectations of special dividends.

Valuations unjustifiably high. StarHub’s fairly high CY09 P/E of 14x vs SingTel’s 13x, M1’s 11x and the market’s 11.9x, assumes continued strong growth, high dividends, and low risks going forward, in our opinion. While that was the case in the past, we believe things have clearly changed for the worse going forward, and we cannot see why it should trade at such lofty valuations. Our target price of $2.30 implies CY09 P/E of only 11x, which is fair and would imply a more attractive dividend yield of 8-9% vs a modest 6-7% currently. Switch to MobileOne (M1 SP, Neutral, Target price: S$2.05) for the lower risk to its FCF and fairly attractive dividend yield of 7-8%.
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Re: Starhub

Postby helios » Thu Sep 18, 2008 5:10 pm

18-Sept - In a move to impart consistency in look and feel to the suite of TV and video content it provides, StarHub has rebranded several of its services under the brand name StarHub TV.
The branding initiative, which unveils tomorrow, is coupled with the launch of a new StarHub TV logo, conceptualised and developed in-house.


(San's comment: the Logo looks cartoonish? but i like the ápple-green image!)

The rebranded services include StarHub Digital Cable across all linear channels, print and broadcast advertising platforms.

StarHub's value-added services offering cable TV content over its broadband network, i.View and Play Video, its legal video download service for MaxOnline customers will be rebranded as ‘StarHub TV Online'. MobileTV Xtra, its value-added service for StarHub Mobile post-paid customers will be renamed ‘StarHub TV on Mobile'.

"We want to ensure that the whole breadth of content that we offer is easily and widely recognised regardless of the platform they are on. Users will now have the simplicity to enjoy our wide and diverse range of pay TV content without having to learn new ways to access it. They will have the freedom to view the content they demand any time, anywhere, seamlessly and easily," Iris Wee, head of marketing, StarHub, said.

Also Mandarin channel CTI TV will now be available on StarHub TV Online and on Mobile, StarHub added.

Source: Marketing-Interactive.com
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Re: Starhub

Postby helios » Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:14 pm

22-Sept - StarHub is bolstering its pay-TV service with new Tamil movie channel Vannathirai (VTV).

The channel will offer a mixture of classic and new films, as well as local produced shows for Singapore audiences. VTV, which will be a 24-hour channel, debuts on 24 September.

“StarHub is delighted to offer another quality choice to our local Indian communities. We are always looking at offering niche programming to cater to the needs of different audience segments and we are confident that the addition of VTV will be welcomed by our Tamil-speaking subscribers,” Patrick Lim, StarHub’s head of Cable TV Services, said in a statement.

Source: Marketing-Interactive.com
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Re: Starhub

Postby sidney » Tue Sep 23, 2008 12:52 am

Sometimes pricing wars do defy logic and economics of scale. Open competition increases pay tv fees (for soccers) instead. Come to think abt it, perhaps as tv bums, we indirectly pay soccers superstars for their huge signing on fees and statospheric wages.

I want: Niche, but cheaper tv shows
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Re: Starhub

Postby blid2def » Tue Sep 23, 2008 1:00 am

Because of the exclusivity of the rights to broadcast contents, open competition becomes open competition for monopoly. Same shit, different day.
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Re: Starhub

Postby kennynah » Tue Sep 23, 2008 3:15 am

it's all a big wayang....c'mon....one cannot be so foolish not to see it... 8-)
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