Company Briefs - 20 Jun 2007

StarHub, M1 tie up for new service

STARHUB and its rival, MobileOne, are teaming up for the first time. The two telcos plan to sell a mobile video-sharing service to their combined customer base. The country's largest telco, Singapore Telecommunications, is not part of the plan.

In a joint press release, Singapore's second and third-largest telco operators said they will offer customers an opportunity to upload and share their video clips on a joint mobile platform, MeTV.

MeTV is somewhat similar to the immensely popular video-sharing website YouTube, now owned by Google. YouTube and MeTV are for people who create their own content, in this case videos which they then share with others through the Internet or by mobile phone.

MeTV was launched by M1 in January, and will be made available to StarHub customers next quarter, the release said. In the few months since its launch, MeTV has attracted more than 50,000 customers, and now more than 2 million mobile subscribers from M1 and StarHub will be able to access it.

M1 spokesman Chua Swee Kiat declined to comment when asked why SingTel was not part of the tie-up.

A SingTel spokeswoman told BT that since 2004 it has been providing services to enable users to create and share video content with all its customers on their personal computers and mobile phones.

She said: 'Today, we have thousands of active users who have created tens of thousands of video clips. More than half of our users are students.'

Since 2005, SingTel has been working closely with the Ministry of Education to encourage user-generated content, she added.

According to the joint press release, the StarHub and M1 tie-up will increase content generation and expand the MeTV community as all video clips uploaded on MeTV by their combined customer base can be viewed and accessed by customers of both operators.

The best MeTV video clips will also feature in a weekly 30-minute programme on StarHub's HubTV (Channel 26).

M1 chief executive Neil Montefiore said the MeTV service will result in customers getting 'an explosion of content choices'. He said: 'The availability of the service to the enlarged customer base will generate a critical mass of shared interest and experience which could encourage even more usage and trial among users and their peers.'

Mike Reynolds, head of integrated products and marketing, said the demand for user-created services has increased dramatically as more customers are being connected through a variety of communications devices.

'Besides being able to view their clips over mobile, users of the MeTV service can now view the best clips over HubTV,' he said.

Customers will be charged 21 cents for each video clip they download. Currently uploading of a video clip is free for a limited period.

Video clip owners are paid 5 cents each time their clips are downloaded by others. Customers have to earn $10, the equivalent of 200 downloads, before they receive their payment.

To upload a video clip, M1 and StarHub customers need to send it to MeTV via MMS to '6388'. Other customers can visit their operators' mobile portal to download and view a clip.

Separately, SingTel yesterday announced that it will offer free 'push' e-mail to its mobile postpaid customers - the first operator in Asia-Pacific to do so.

The advertising-based mobile e-mail service, called MobilM@il, will deliver real-time e-mail messages for the mass market.

SingTel said care has been taken to place the advertisements in such a way that they will be unobtrusive and not break the flow of the e-mail messages.

MobileM@il allows users to manage their e-mail profile and set up multiplee-mail accounts on their mobile phone. They can have their e-mails automatically 'pushed' from their SingNet, Yahoo!, Gmail or Hotmail accounts. The service allows them to receive, forward, insert and save attachments as well as save their contacts in a local address book.

Jurong Tech in $500m debt issue

ELECTRONICS contract manufacturer Jurong Technologies Industrial Corp (Jurtech) has set up a $500 million multi-currency debt issuance programme, its first fund raising in the debt capital markets.

Jurtech, which makes hard disks, sound and graphics cards, last year started a strategy of diversifying its business through acquisitions, and has seen new revenue streams from these new segments, said Lee Lok Fui, the firm's president.

'To complement this strategy and provide a strong base for continued growth, we have also re-examined our financial management,' he said.

Under the issuance programme - for which DBS Bank will act as the sole arranger and dealer - Jurtech may issue notes in Singapore dollars or other currencies, which may bear fixed, floating or variable interest rates. Hybrid or zero coupon notes may also be issued.

The net proceeds from the issue will be used for 'general corporate purposes' of Jurtech and its subsidiaries, it said.

These include the funding of new business opportunities, financing working capital requirements and capital expenditure, or refinancing existing debt.

Mr Lee said the group has expanded several fold since its listing on the SGX in 2000. It has been funding growth 'through careful management of our internal financial resources, as well as through loans and trade facilities from domestic and international financial institutions.'

Jurtech was recently ranked among Singapore's fastest growing 50 companies, making the list for the fourth time. Compiled by DP Info, the list ranks the 50 firms with the highest compounded annual growth rate as measured over the last three years.

However, the firm was affected earlier this year by news that Motorola, a major customer, would see its sales for the first quarter miss guidance by some US$1.3 billion. Its share price closed at 94.5 cents yesterday.

Pan Asian acquires stake in Teacly

PAN Asian Water Solutions, a water piping systems provider, said it has acquired a major stake in Teacly (S) Pte Ltd, which has won two contracts worth $18.27 million from the Public Utilities Board (PUB) to rehabilitate or re-line the public sewer system in the Marina and Kallang River catchment areas.

The acquisition of a 51 per cent stake in Teacly represents its expansion downstream into undertaking water infrastructural projects. This complements the firm's existing business of supplying and fabricating new piping systems, Pan Asian said. It will pay a total of $440,000 for the Teacly stake, which will be funded by internal sources.

The acquisition will also allow Pan Asian to participate in the 'massive' rejuvenation of the sewerage system in Singapore, said MD and CEO Francis Koh.

He said the PUB has an ongoing public sewer rehabilitation programme and has set aside $153 million to rejuvenate 300km of sewers within the Marina Catchment area over the next few years.

For 18 months starting from June 2007, Teacly will be relining about 45km of sewer pipes in the Marina and Kallang River Catchment Areas.