SingTel Eyes More Partnerships In India

Singapore-based SingTel plans to leverage its capabilities to expand its footprints in the Indian market. SingTel, which also holds 32.25 percent share in the country's leading telco Bharti Airtel, says that it is gung-ho about the India and looking for more collaborations in the domestic market.

" We are strategically looking at the Indian market and exploring partnerships, largely through our partner--Bharti Airtel. We are betting on new innovations and identifying best ways to give people reasons to opt for 3G powered platforms," Allen Lew, Chief Executive Officer, Group Digital Life and Country Chief Officer—Singapore, Singtel told Light Reading India at a recent InTouch event organised by Amdocs in Singapore.

According to SingTel, telcos need to look towards adjacent businesses in the industry, if they want to be competitive and profitable. The company which has operations across Asia-Pacific, Middle East, Europe and the US said that it wants to become a complete multimedia company.

SingTel adds that the role of telecom operator is changing and a telco need to become a complete service provider, offering range of communication services. " We need to get back to engage customers. We need to recognise that the customer behaviour has changed. Mobile is no longer just a handheld device, it has transformed into a personal wallet. We need to be fully ready to give consumer a complete multimedia experience," says Lew.

“Creating an emotional connection with consumers holds the key,” Lew adds.

In India, the company recently entered into a  partnership with Shopify—a Canada based e-commerce platform provider to launch an e-commerce initiative. Under the partnership, SingTel will help develop the ecosystem for Shopify that includes partnering with logistics players and payment gateways.

Shopify, on the other side, will provide its platform to merchants, largely to small and medium enterprises, for a fee of INR 750 per month or INR 9000 annually. The company is believed to be working on more such partnerships in the country.

SingTel is also bullish over the Cable TV opportunity and believes that the Cable TV business is ready for disruption." If we can create TV content ecosystem for consumer on different devices by pulling together customisation, that could be a big thing," Lew says.

Globally, SingTel aims to engage with small to big companies that share the same vision and wants to work with leading multimedia companies. SingTel has around 450 million customers in 24 countries.

--Jatinder Singh, Principal Correspondent,  Light Reading India