Singapore’s telco price war is reshaping how operators make money from mobile services. Features that traditionally generated incremental revenue — such as roaming, international calls and excess data usage — are increasingly bundled into mobile plans, leaving less room for add-on monetisation.
That shift was evident in StarHub’s 3QFY2025 results announced on Nov 14, 2025. Mobile service revenue fell 10.1% from a year earlier, mainly due to weaker roaming and data usage-related charges.
In response, StarHub is repositioning its mobile offerings around simplicity and network quality rather than heavily relying on usage-based fees. Last November, it introduced 5G Unlimited+ plans that remove data caps and include roaming as part of the core offering to target customers who want predictable bills.
“Customers have been very clear to us in saying that they want a great quality mobile [experience]. They want a worry-free service where they don’t have to think about what the data allowances are, and they want to be able to use their phone no matter where they travel,” says Matt Williams, chief of StarHub’s consumer business group.
He continues: “[Instead of competing] at the bottom end of the market, [we’re] focusing on giving the majority of Singaporeans the product and experience they are looking for at price points that are also positive for our business.”
StarHub is also betting that network reliability will matter more to customers than simply pricing. “It’s not cheap if it doesn’t work,” says Williams, arguing that price advantages quickly disappear when service quality falls short.
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Early signs suggest the approach is gaining traction, with some customers willing to pay more for the high performance they associate with 5G. William shares: “We see very strong uptake of our 5G plans, including a significant number of price-conscious customers from our eight Telecom brand upgrading [from entry-level 4G plans to gain access to 5G networks. This shows that] consumers are prepared to pay more for better network quality.”
Sustaining a quality-led pricing strategy, however, depends on consistent network performance. This is why StarHub continues to invest in expanding its mobile coverage and capacity, including in underground environments (such as MRT tunnels and carparks) where connectivity can be lost or degraded.
Williams shares that the telco closely monitors network performance in those underground areas to identify gaps and direct investment toward additional sites and capacity. This ongoing effort reflects the reality that reliable coverage in dense, underground settings requires continual upgrades rather than one-off fixes.
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Defending broadband leadership with a multi-brand strategy
StarHub is applying the same quality-led, multi-tiered approach to its broadband business as it seeks to defend its position as Singapore’s largest fixed broadband provider.
As at 3QFY2025, StarHub had 568,000 fixed broadband subscribers. Broadband revenue rose 1.4% y-o-y to $188.8 million in the first nine months of 2025, supported by continued migration to higher-bandwidth plans and bundling. Yet, broadband average revenue per user fell to $34 from $35 a year earlier.
To manage that balance between scale and pricing, StarHub has leaned further into a multi-brand approach. It completed the acquisition of MyRepublic’s broadband business last August, adding a brand focused on performance-driven users such as gamers who value low-latency connections. A few months later, eight Telecom rolled out home broadband offerings to serve a growing base of value-oriented customers.
Williams explains that service level is what sets the brands apart. StarHub’s flagship broadband service includes professional installation by its “hub troopers”, who optimise whole-home WiFi. Meanwhile, eight Telecom’s home internet targets customers willing to use their own routers and accept a more basic installation in exchange for lower monthly fees.
Offering multiple brands at different price points, however, raises concerns about cannibalisation. Williams dismisses the risk, arguing that customers would otherwise simply find those cheaper choices elsewhere. The services are designed to deliver different experiences, with cost structures that allow StarHub to remain profitable even as customers move between tiers, he says.
Why entertainment is still fundamental
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Entertainment has long been part of StarHub’s consumer proposition, even as the economics of pay TV have weakened. Revenue from the segment fell 7.5% in the first nine months of 2025, reflecting the ongoing shift toward global streaming platforms and the structural decline of traditional TV services.
“[Yet,] our entertainment business is still a fundamental part of who we are, and it creates a point of difference for us,” says Williams. He notes that customers who bundle entertainment with mobile and/or broadband services tend to be subscribers for longer, which positions content as a supporting pillar rather than a primary growth driver.
StarHub has therefore reshaped its entertainment offerings instead of scaling them back.
Last October, it formed a strategic partnership with Mediacorp to extend the reach of its content through digital platforms. With Mediacorp’s streaming service, meWatch, carrying StarHub TV+ packages, viewers can now access premium sports, dramas and live events on a single platform. The companies say the tie-up is intended to deliver a more integrated, Singapore-focused entertainment proposition while creating additional opportunities in advertising and content distribution.
Alongside broader distribution, the English Premier League (EPL) remains a central part of StarHub’s entertainment lineup. Williams says the most recent season recorded the highest customer uptake the company has seen, describing the service as “going from strength to strength”. The EPL, he adds, supports both customer retention and acquisition. StarHub offers it at preferential rates to its existing TV, broadband and mobile customers, while pricing it higher for non-subscribers as a pathway into its wider service portfolio.
Retention over churn, powered by AI
Across mobile, broadband and entertainment, StarHub’s strategy for its consumer business increasingly centres on keeping customers rather than cycling through short-term promotions. “It costs a lot of money to acquire new customers, so we really value our existing customers,” says Williams. “They have shown loyalty to us, and we are very loyal to them.”
StarHub recognises and rewards its long-tenure customers through its tiered membership programme. Customers who subscribe to at least one core StarHub service and spend a minimum of $200 monthly will qualify for the highest tier of the programme, which is the Platinum status. They will receive priority support, including access to a dedicated hotline and in-store queue priority, along with additional perks such as discounts for mobile accessories.
To further support its customer retention strategy, StarHub uses AI to analyse customer interactions across call centres, chatbots and emails to identify recurring pain points and areas for improvement. “We have built an AI system that becomes part of what we call the ‘voice of the customer’. It tells us exactly what we need to work on for our customers,” says Williams.
AI, he adds, is also shaping how StarHub designs its consumer offerings. “We used AI to analyse all of our customers’ behaviours and find out what they value. That helped us make sure our recent 5G Unlimited+ plans were optimised around what customers actually need.”
With pricing power under pressure, StarHub is leaning on customer insights, bundling, and service quality to prioritise longer customer lifetimes over brief wins. Whether that execution translates into earnings will depend in part on how the competitive landscape evolves.
Hussaini Saifee of Maybank Securities says StarHub is his “preferred” telco pick for this year, given its relatively higher exposure to the Singapore consumer market.
“We expect long-anticipated consolidation to materialise in 2026, leading to a more rational competitive landscape,” he says, referring to the ongoing acquisition of M1 by Simba, which will reduce the number of mobile operators with their own networks from four to three. He estimates that consolidation could drive 4% to 5% revenue growth in Singapore’s mobile industry this year and next, reversing the declines seen in the last two years — in line with patterns observed elsewhere.
Besides the resumption of mobile revenue growth, Saifee points out that StarHub will see meaningful cost savings from its multi-year internal process and operations restructuring moves. Coupled with “elevated growth” from its enterprise business, Saifee estimates that StarHub’s FY2026 earnings will increase by 36%, leading to his “buy” call with a target price of $1.30.
