StarHub |
StarHub Limited is a telecommunications company based in Singapore. It is the second largest mobile phone operator and the sole cable television operator in Singapore. Its top three direct shareholders are STT Communications, MediaCorp and NTT Investment Singapore.
=Subsidiaries=
The StarHub group consists of several subsidiaries, which include: *StarHub Mobile **Global System for Mobile Communications and 3G mobile telephone network *StarHub Cable Vision **cable television and digital cable services *StarHub Internet **residential Dial-up access internet services **commercial fixed network services *StarHub Online **residential broadband internet service via cable **residential fixed network voice service via cable
=History=
StarHub was awarded the license to provide fixed network and mobile services on 7 May 1998, when the government announced that telecommunications sector in Singapore would be completely liberalised by 2002. In 2000, the government announced that the date for complete liberalisation would be brought forward to 2000, and the 49% cap on foreign ownership of public telecommunications companies in Singapore would be lifted. With ST Telemedia, Singapore Power, BT Group and Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) as its major shareholders, StarHub was officially launched in April 2000.
In January 1999, StarHub acquired internet service provider CyberWay and it became a subsidiary within the StarHub group. It was renamed as StarHub Internet on 3 December 1999 in a move to integrate CyberWay into the StarHub brand.
In 2001, Singapore Power divested its shares in StarHub and sold its 25.5% stake to ST Telemedia for S$400 million. BT Group subsequently divested its 18% stake as a result of consolidation, after accumulating debt acquired during the bidding round for 3G licenses in the United Kingdom.
In 2002, the company merged with Singapore s sole cable television operator, Singapore Cable Vision. As a result of the merger, it acquired SCV s cable television as well as broadband internet access operations.
StarHub was publicly listed on the Singapore Exchange in October 2004, and a new wholly-owned subsidiary known as StarHub Online was formed in 2005 to provide broadband internet services.
Starhub is currently a full-fledged telecommunications company providing a full range of services over mobile, internet and fixed platforms.
=Mobile services=
StarHub provides mobile services through its subsidiary StarHub Mobile. Since its launch in April 2000, StarHub is Singapore s fastest growing mobile operator. It has over a million customers and is the second largest mobile network operator with 30% market share as of June 2005.
In May 2003, it became the first mobile operator in Singapore to commercially launch BlackBerry, a handheld wireless device providing e-mail, telephone, text messaging, web browsing and other wireless data access. In January 2005, StarHub announced that it would form an exclusive strategic partnership for i-mode in Singapore with NTT DoCoMo, a subsidiary of StarHub s major shareholder NTT. Customer trials of i-mode will be starting late 2005 and they are currently (20th Sept 2005) recruiting volunteers to participate (See StarHub home page). Customers trials of 3G services began in November 2004, and was launched in April 2005.
=Cable television=
StarHub provides cable television services through its subsidiary StarHub Cable Vision, and it is the sole cable television operator in Singapore. Its hybrid optical fibre-coaxial network reaches 99% of households in Singapore, with 412,000 households subscribing to its cable television services and a penetration rate of 37.4% in 2004. In November 2004, it announced the launch of digital cable services over its cable network, which added more channels and allowed greater consumer interactivity.
=Internet services=
StarHub provides dial-up and broadband internet access through its subsidiaries StarHub Internet and Starhub Online respectively. StarHub Internet was formed after the acquisition of internet access provider CyberWay, while Starhub Online was formed after a merger with Singapore Cable Vision.
On 3 December 1999, a free surf plan was announced in conjunction with the rebranding of CyberWay, a first in Singapore s consumer internet industry. Customers could surf the internet for free via dial-up and pay only normal local telephone charges. Over 180,000 people signed up for the free surf plan in less than three months since it was announced.
Starhub provides broadband internet access on the same network it uses for cable television services using cable modems based on the DOCSIS standard and it currently has 46.2% of the residential broadband market.
StarHub chairs the global Wireless Broadband Alliance and provides wireless broadband services at numerous locations throughout Singapore. In November 2004, it announced an agreement with Boeing subsidiary Connexion which provide StarHub customers the ability to access the internet and digital content in flight.
=Fixed network services=
StarHubs fixed network, built since inception, extends more than 2,000 km (1,243 miles) around Singapore and directly connects more than 800 commercial buildings. It provides a wide range of fixed network services, broadly categorised as data services and internet protocol and voice services.
Data services include:
Internet protocol services include:
=See also=
*StarHub Cable Vision
=References=
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