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SingTel to offer EPL to StarHub subscribers, but fans fume over pricing

SINGAPORE — Any joy among football fans at the authorities’ decision yesterday to reject SingTel’s appeal against the cross-carriage ruling was quickly tempered by the telco’s pricing details for new subscribers and those who wish to watch English Premier League (EPL) matches on rival StarHub’s platform.

A Singtel shop. Photo:  Nabihah Hashim

A Singtel shop. Photo: Nabihah Hashim

SINGAPORE — Any joy among football fans at the authorities’ decision yesterday to reject SingTel’s appeal against the cross-carriage ruling was quickly tempered by the telco’s pricing details for new subscribers and those who wish to watch English Premier League (EPL) matches on rival StarHub’s platform.

With less than a month to go before the new season kicks off on Aug 17, the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI) announced yesterday in a statement that its minister Yaacob Ibrahim has rejected SingTel’s appeal, after considering arguments from the telco’s subsidiary SingNet and the Media Development Authority. This means that StarHub’s pay-television subscribers can watch EPL matches by paying mio TV the same amount that SingNet charges their customers for EPL-only content. Activation takes five days.

In response, SingTel issued a statement expressing its disappointment with the minister’s decision — and separately released its packages and prices for the broadcast of the football matches in the upcoming season.

While SingTel is maintaining the existing price of S$64.90 per month for its bundled packages, which include its EPL channels, viewers who want to watch just the channels showing EPL matches on either its mio TV service or StarHub’s platform will have to pay S$59.90 per month — a 72 per cent increase from the S$34.90 per month that mio TV subscribers paid to watch last season’s football matches on the now-defunct Sports Pack which includes non-EPL channels.

The new pricing applies only to new subscriptions or existing mio TV customers who are renewing their contracts. All existing contracts with mio TV will be honoured throughout the contract period, SingTel said.

The telco also said that it has plans to offer weekly EPL screenings at community centres. More details will be shared “as the new season plays out”, it said. It added that mio TV will also spend S$100 million to “enhance the quality and reliability of its service”.

Still, football fans such as Mr Philip Wong, 63, were not appeased. The retiree said: “The new price is really too much because it is almost double what I was paying.” Another fan, Mr Mohd Hamzah, 23, said the price increase is “ridiculous”. He said: “The cross carriage was supposed to help resolve the problem, but it has only pushed the burden on us, the consumers.”

The MCI said the rejection was made “based on the assessment of a number of factors”. A “key consideration” was whether certain clauses in the agreement between SingNet and the Football Association Premier League Limited prevent or restrict, or are likely to prevent or restrict”, the EPL content from being acquired by other pay-TV operators here, it added.

Nevertheless, SingNet will be exempted from MDA rules requiring it to also cross-carry packages that include non-EPL content. Under the Media Market Conduct Code, packages that bundled exclusive content along with other channels must be cross-carried in its entirety to ensure there is no price discrimination against subscribers of rival pay-TV operators.

StarHub Senior VP (Corporate Communications and Investor Relations) Jeannie Ong said the telco is “heartened by and fully support the minister’s decision”. She said StarHub will be sharing more details of its “competitive content packages” that include the EPL content to be cross-carried. “We strongly urge customers eager to view the EPL on StarHub’s reliable network.”

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