SingTel Witholds Bid for Pay TV License in Singapore

Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) has decided not to submit a tender for the second Subscription Television Service (Pay TV) license in Singapore. The company said that after careful evaluation of the framework of the license, it concluded that "there is no viable and sustainable business case for SingTel to make the significant investment required to enter the Pay TV market in the current environment." Among the factors cited for not pursuing the second Pay TV license from the government were the size of the Singapore market, the well-entrenched position of the dominant incumbent, the availability and access to media content and the infrastructure and equipment costs.


Instead of becoming a licensed Pay TV operator, SingTel remains keen to work with content providers to offer their video on-demand (VOD) programming in Singapore over its ADSL network. In 2001-2002, SingTel conducted an eight-month Interactive TV trial that provided participants with high-speed digital video programming as well as broadband Internet access. The company said it does not need a Pay TV license to provide video-on-demand and Interactive TV services.
http://www.singtel.com