Great plan – but what about the execution?
It is a bold ambition indeed for an operator like SingTel to try and become the content gatekeeper for its subscribers given that this is also the stated goal of every major OTT player and broadcaster in the global market.
Moreover, in SingTel’s case there is the added complication of the fact that its subscriber markets are so diverse – with very different cultural tastes and bandwidth availability in markets like Singapore and India – that pulling off any group-wide play would be extremely tough.
SingTel’s plans to become a content gate-keeper across its network footprint represents a massive challenge for the operator for a number of reasons.
Firstly, SingTel or its regional affiliates like AIS in Thailand, Globe in the Philippines and others are still not seen as content companies by their subscribers, they are still largely viewed as network operators, providers of connectivity rather than content.
This is an important distinction because whilst subscribers are happy to use recommendations from the likes of Netflix – because it has established a reputation as a content provider in a cut-throat market – they may not see SingTel in quite the same way at this point.
Secondly, not only will SingTel be competing against the global OTT giants in this space but it will also in many markets – India being a prime example – be competing against “local champions” in the form of dominant broadcasters and OTT players who also want to be the ‘go to’ player for subscribers.
This means that whilst SingTel does indeed hold some very valuable cards – customer data, billing relationships and business scale – it will have to take its game to the very highest level if it is to succeed in this area.