SingTel splits three ways

Consumer, ICT and Digital are new divisions, as telco looks for new ICT business head.

Comprising three units, the new structure takes effect on 1 April 2012.

The three units are Group Consumer, Group Digital L!fe, and Group ICT.

Mr Paul O’Sullivan will lead Group Consumer, while Mr Allen Lew will lead Group Digital L!fe. At the Group ICT, Mr Lew will be the covering CEO as the group searches internally and externally to fill the position.

Ms Chua Sock Koong, SingTel Group CEO, said: “SingTel has a long history of quietly, but successfully, making bold and industry-shaping investments. We now see some of the largest and most exciting opportunities that have ever existed in this industry. The changes to how we organise ourselves are necessary in order to align our people and resources to sharpen our focus and take advantage of these opportunities.”

Commenting on moves, research firm Ovum noted SingTel’s regional restructure is indeed a “bold” but necessary move. The group divisional split between consumers and enterprise segments makes sense and the Group Digital L!fe unit will need to devise clever bundles and add-ons that take the OTT players head-on. Regional strategies in these three areas make much more sense than piecemeal efforts scattered across country markets. This is a direct attempt by SingTel to “disrupt adjacent” verticals and the other-the-top players by leveraging its regional footprint to maximize the impact of its OTT initiatives.

But pan-group management across such a large and diverse portfolio will not be an easy task, and execution will be challenging. Country differences will need to be taken into account, and SingTel must successfully integrate its new regional strategy with its country strategies. SingTel’s minority stake in many of its subsidiaries will complicate this. Mobile advertising will also be a slow game. However, by and large, we welcome the move to streamline and integrate the group. This signals SingTel’s willingness to `change with the times’ in this difficult era for operators.

Group Consumer will focus on setting new benchmarks in customer experience as the leading provider of next-generation communication, infotainment and technology services to consumers and small businesses across Asia Pacific. The unit consolidates all consumer-related functions and includes the group’s international business in the emerging markets, allowing it to fully leverage the scale of its more than 400 million mobile customers.

Group Digital L!fe will lead the group’s journey to becoming a leading player in the digital ecosystem, beyond connecting voices to bringing people together with innovative and cutting-edge digital services. This unit will complement the group’s consumer offerings with state-of-the-art digital services through bundles and add-ons.

Group ICT brings together all enterprise-related business units and will focus on providing ICT solutions to serve the group’s enterprise customers, offering innovative and comprehensive IT and telecommunications solutions across multiple geographies.

“At the heart of this new organisation structure is a focus to provide truly relevant and differentiated services to our customers. We have, over the years built up unique assets that will allow us to compete effectively against traditional as well as non-traditional competitors, such as device manufacturers and content owners, for consumer share and spending,” said SingTel Group CEO Ms Chua Sock Koong.