M1 launches MiBox for untapped pay TV segment

See what the telco is offering.

Over the weekend, M1 announced the launch of MiBox (an Android set-top box) that comes with a selection of free dramas, variety shows and other content. The service is priced at S$8 a month with a 2-year contract for M1 fibre customers (S$12 per month for non-M1 fibre customers).

For Barclays Research, this means that M1 is trying to tap a segment of the market "that wants pay TV but does not want to pay up."

"The aggregation of a lot of content into one place is the value-add M1 is offering here," it added.

The research firm said the new foray is "interesting" given that OTT (over-the-top) content and viewership is on the rise. It noted though how M1 has retained a content agnostic view to date.

"Its subscriber take-up has been steady at about 7,000-8,000 per quarter – the lack of any acceleration has disappointed us, however," said Barclays Research.