5G enterprise portfolio set up solely to drive 5G enterprise business across the region

 

SINGTEL has reorganised its structure to capture new digital growth, with the changes taking effect from Jan 1, 2021.

 

Key to this is the creation of a 5G enterprise portfolio under the telco' s group enterprise division dedicated to driving 5G enterprise business across the region, it said in a bourse filing on Thursday.

 

Separately, Singtel' s information and communications technology (ICT) arm NCS will report directly to the group CEO to accelerate its expansion into the Asia-Pacific, with a special focus on Australia and China.

 

The latest shake-up is likely aimed at burnishing Singtel' s regional enterprise business, stock watchers told The Business Times. From April 1, 2021, Singtel' s international business, which manages the telco' s strategic telecom investments portfolio, will be brought under the group chief financial officer (CFO) office.

Arthur Lang, chief executive of Singtel' s international business, will become group CFO - a role that covers the management of the international group and regional associates.

 

Singtel' s group strategy and business development unit will be combined with the group digital life division to become the strategic portfolio unit. Group digital life chief executive Samba Natarajan will lead this unit.

 

The portfolio will now include strategic planning and business restructuring, on top of overseeing Singtel' s digital marketing arm Amobee and corporate venture fund Innov8.

 

DBS analyst Sachin Mittal noted that " on the enterprise side there' s been a pressure on margins for the last few years, because there' s a lot of legacy business which is giving way" .

 

As such, the priority will be to grow revenue, he believes. Mr Mittal added: " Optus has been struggling a lot on the enterprise side and that could be because NCS was too narrowly managed in Singapore so maybe one thing they are trying to do is regain the lost ground in Australia."

 

Paul Chew, head of research at Phillip Securities, added that the reorganisation " reflects a more concerted emphasis on the regional enterprise customer as a source of growth" .

 

" 5G is an opportunity to move away from commoditised connectivity services to customised premium business solutions. Moving regionally for NCS will open up new and much larger opportunities from their current captive Singapore presence," said Mr Chew in an e-mail.

 

Singtel group CEO-designate Yuen Kuan Moon, who takes over from predecessor Chua Sock Koong on Jan 1, said that NCS has reached scale, having delivered positive revenue growth for seven years running.

 

The greater autonomy will help NCS maximise its potential by expanding its footprint beyond Singapore to build a strategic presence in major markets for digital transformation.

 

" This is part of our longer-term plan to create more value for the group by turning NCS into a leading regional B2B (business-to-business) digital services company," he added.

 

Meanwhile, NCS CEO Ng Kuo Pin and Anna Yip, deputy CEO of Singtel' s consumer Singapore division, will join the group management committee from Jan 1, 2021.

 

Group CFO Lim Cheng Cheng will become group chief corporate officer. Her predecessor Jeann Low will retire, alongside Allen Lew, group strategy and business development CEO.

 

Both Ms Low and Mr Lew will take on advisory roles after stepping down from end-April, 2021.

 

Mr Yuen said: " Our renewed management structure will help shape and support our business agenda as we strive to prioritise businesses where we can be relevant in the longer term and grow sustainably."