Confident Singtel brushes off fourth telco threat

Challengers won’t cut it, says the incumbent.

Singtel remained confident of its prospects despite the looming threat of a fourth telco entrant, according to a report by OCBC Investment Research.

In its recent Investor Day, Singtel noted that although two companies have expressed interest in challenging the incumbents, both do not have any experience in running a mobile network/business.

Management also added that the outcome will depend on several factors, such as IDA’s auction, a level playing field and level of investment.

“Over in its Consumer business in Singapore, Singtel has downplayed the threat from the emergence of a fourth telco in Singapore. Market watchers believe that a new entrant would be able to garner less than 10% of market share from the incumbents; but do not rule out a near-term disruption in pricing,” said the report.