StarHub sets its eyes on going local for payTV competition

Its content bidding has slowed.

According to Nomura, in wireless, focus is still on data repricing (46% of subs are on new tiered plans, and 16% of these exceed data allowances).

Its excess data charge is now SGD8/GB vs promotional SGD6/GB previously.

Here's more from Nomura:

On OTT risks, management isn’t necessarily trying to fight or avoid it (a hard battle to win, we think), but rather trying to embrace it more through partnerships, such as recent OTT partnerships with Line and WeChat (primarily targeted at prepaid users).

In broadband, there is competition from the likes of MyRepublic etc (eg 1GB for SGD49 plans), but StarHub will continue to focus on its valueproposition and bundles rather than compete on prices (plus it is mindful of cannibalization issues too).

In pay-TV, competition is strong, but hasn't changed materially. In fact, we sense both StarHub and SingTel have slowed their intensity on content bidding.

The company also intends to focus on producing localized content as a differentiator to attract local viewers and generate advertising revenue. It is also not clear who will win the rights for the soccer World Cup, and in what form yet.