Battle for 4th telco comes down to MyRepublic, Aussie firm TPG

SINGAPORE – Fibre service provider MyRepublic and Australian telco TPG have been deemed eligible to take part in the first of two spectrum auctions by the authorities, which will pave the way for a fourth mobile network operator to enter the local market.

airYotta, the third contender to submit an Expression of Interest, did not pass the requirements, said the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) in a statement on Wednesday (Nov 16).

The New Entrant Spectrum Auction (Nesa), to take place by the end of the year, has a lower starting bid price for aspiring new entrants for 60MHz of spectrum up for grabs.

“Following a review of the three sets of Expression of Interest documents submitted in September this year, IMDA is satisfied that MyRepublic and TPG have met the Nesa pre-qualification criteria. airYotta Pte Ltd did not fully meet these requirements and will not be participating in the Nesa.”

The IMDA said it arrived at the decision after looking at all relevant factors such as whether prospective new entrants satisfy the “fit and proper person” criteria, which include management skills, competency and operational experience in deploying and operating a public telecommunications network.

“IMDA’s pre-qualification checks are not an endorsement or approval of the pre-qualified companies’ business plans. The success of the fourth (operator) will ultimately depend on how it innovates and competes in the market, and how it invests to keep pace with new technologies in a fast evolving market,” the authority said.

Mr Clement Teo, principal analyst at research firm Ovum, noted that “MyRepublic is a known Singapore brand and has good local understanding of the market here”.

While Australian firm TPG may lack local knowledge, “it has the financial muscle to bid for the allotted spectrum”. “It appears to have a good grasp of what a great customer experience might look like from its Australian business, so it’ll be a great challenger to the incumbents in Singapore too,” Mr Teo added.

airYotta, which had set its sights on becoming Singapore’s first data-led telco, said yesterday that while the company “had very strong and substantial components”, it “unfortunately did not meet all of the IMDA’s requirements for the bid”.

Meanwhile, MyRepublic described the IMDA’s announcement as “truly exciting news”, while TPG said it was “very pleased to have met the requirements of that process”. In a statement, MyRepublic said: “We remain committed to bringing Singapore a truly fixed-mobile converged offering, including generous data, seamless coverage and support for the massive potential of the Internet of Things.”

In response to TODAY’s queries, Mr Tony Moffatt, general counsel for TPG Telecom group, noted that the “TPG group is a substantial corporation with significant cash flows and we will have no difficulty funding our plans for Singapore”.

“As a business that has grown organically  for many years, we are well known in Australia for great value and good quality services. If successful in the auction, we are going to bring the same approach to Singapore consumers as soon as we can,” he said.

A second auction, called the general spectrum auction, will be open to the three incumbent telcos, M1, Singtel and StarHub, as well as any new entrant that emerges after the first stage. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KENNETH CHENG