James Pearce, TelecomTV (00:05):
I'm delighted to be joined today by Hai Thoo Cheong, who is the VP of Mobile Networks at Singtel. Welcome. Let's dive straight in. Singtel's often seen as a leader in differentiated connectivity, but what does that actually mean in practice or in terms of concrete services?

Hai Thoo Cheong, Singtel (00:22):
In a highly competitive market like Singapore, data volume bundle is no longer premium. In fact, consumer end users hardly use up their data bundle today. And network slicing allows us to provide differentiated performance and, in other words, differentiated connectivities. So with this, we actually launch our 5G Plus plan with three distinct performance levels. We have the 5G Plus, 5G Plus Enhanced, and 5G Plus Priority. Using low-band 700, we provide wide-area coverage and deep in-building penetration for our 5G Plus customers. Building on top of that, our 5G Plus Enhanced gets two times faster speed. And finally, our 5G Plus Priority gets four times faster speed, added cybersecurity, and white-glove customer care and deals.

(01:37):
Network slicing or differentiated connectivity is something that Singtel pioneered some years back. We started with the enterprise, with departments of defense for their mission-critical operations to enterprises, like the port operations for advanced connectivity. We then move on to consumer segment with events like F1 racing, as well as large-scale concert events. So we actually move from best effort to intent-based performance differentiations, whether temporarily or permanently through a subscription plan.

James Pearce, TelecomTV (02:23):
Well, why don't you tell us about some of the results you've seen from this approach?

Hai Thoo Cheong, Singtel (02:27):
The results show that customers recognize and value performance. We see that since the launch of 5G Plus, the Singtel brand has been recognized as a premium service. And from a network performance, we see consistent delivery, especially in large-scale events like concerts. We see that in the occasional congestion during peak load scenario, our 5G Plus Priority customers get four times faster speed.

James Pearce, TelecomTV (03:04):
So that was really, really interesting set of results that you've had. Maybe you could run us through how you see growth evolving between consumer and enterprise services.

Hai Thoo Cheong, Singtel (03:14):
Well, we do see growth in both consumer and enterprise. On a consumer front, we see users move to higher-tier premium plans to enjoy network and roaming experience, added cybersecurity, and white-glove customer care. On the enterprise front, we see the network slicing or differentiated connectivity is able to meet the different needs of enterprise from healthcare to manufacturing to defense, national security. So all these perform on a single shared network, and that improves the return on investment while guaranteed performance, maintains performance through network slicing.

James Pearce, TelecomTV (04:05):
That's really, really fascinating. Thank you so much for joining us today.

Hai Thoo Cheong, Singtel (04:09):
Thank you.