BBG Communications - Telecom History of Singapore

Singapore Telecommunications Limited, commonly referred to as SingTel, is perhaps Asia's most leading telecommunications company.  It has a combined mobile subscriber base of 216.7 million customers from its own operations and regional associates, as reported at the end of September 2008. SingTel‘s versatility can be clearly seen from its provision of various telecoms services which include ISP, IPTV, cellular phone and fixed line telephony services.

SingTel’s reach has gone beyond the small city-state’s borders as it owns shares in many regional operators, including 100% of the second largest Australian telco, Optus, which was acquired in 2000 from Cable & Wireless and other shareholders of Optus, and Bharti Airtel, the largest telco in India.

In the Singapore Exchange, SingTel is the largest company by market capitalization listed, and is majority owned by Temasek Holdings.

History

In 1879, three years after Alexander Graham Bell patented his telephone invention, a private telephone exchange in Singapore that had 50 lines was started by Bennet Pell .

It took many years later, specifically in 1955 for the Singapore Telephone Board (STB) to be  incorporated as a statutory board with exclusive rights to operate telephone service within Singapore. What followed was a merger of STB and Telecommunications Authority of Singapore (TAS) in 1974. Up until that time, STB was in charge of local services, while TAS operated the international services. 1982 saw the merger of the Postal Department with Telecoms.

SingTel was incorporated just about the early 1990s, specifically in March 1992.The company then became publicly listed in October of 1993. SingTel currently remains as Singapore’s largest IPO. It was listed on the Singapore Exchange in November 1993 and on the Australian Stock Exchange in September 2001.

To free itself from other auxiliary services, and refocus all its energy on its core telecommunications services business, SingTel streamlined its operations. It sold 60% of Singapore Post in an Initial Public Offering in May 2003. By  June of the same year, SingTel divested its stakes to CVC Asia Pacific and J.P. Morgan Partners Asia in its Yellow Pages directory business for S$220 million.

In April 2001, SingTel was awarded a 3G licence.In July 2003, Singapore Telecommunications revealed that it has appointed Ericsson as the vendor for its 3G network in Singapore. And by February 2005, SingTel launched its commercial 3G services.