Singapore "will be one of the most expensive places in the world to watch football's World Cup in June," according to Chua & Ong of the STRAITS TIMES. Pay-TV operator SingTel announced that it will cost $105, excluding goods and services tax, "to catch all 64 matches of the month-long tournament." This "is more than double what fans in Malaysia have to pay and more than five times the price in Hong Kong." The number of matches being offered on free-to-air TV in Singapore "also pales in comparison to those in other countries." Only four matches -- the Brazil World Cup's opening game, its two semi-finals and final -- "are set to be screened on terrestrial channels." A joint bid by StarHub and SingTel in the region of $20M was reportedly paid for the '10 edition rights, "although both pay-TV operators were initially quoted" amounts between $40M and $100M. No Singapore figures "have been reported for this year's bid" (STRAITS TIMES, 3/16). In Singapore, Shamir Osman wrote the SingTel World Cup 2014 package is "free for those who sign a two-year contract" for its EPL broadcast. SingTel CEO Allen Lew said, "What we're telling fans is that if they contract for 24 months with us, which incidentally brings us to the end of our EPL commitment, we give them the World Cup free. We want to engender their loyalty and develop a longer-term relationship with them" (NEW PAPER, 3/15). In a separate article, Osman wrote SingTel "won the non-exclusive rights for the EPL" in '12 for three seasons till '16 and also holds the rights for the Champions League. Under the Media Development Authority's cross-carriage measure implemented in March '10, "StarHub subscribers can get SingTel's exclusive content but must pay SingTel the necessary fees (and vice-versa)" (NEW PAPER, 3/15). Also in Singapore, Fabius Chen wrote SingTel's game plan to offer free World Cup telecasts to subscribers of its EPL packages "has been described as a marketing ploy by industry observers and fans." Daiwa Institute of Research Head of Southeast Asia and India telecoms research Ramakrishna Maruvada said SingTel has taken "the most effective route" to ensure revenue stability for its pay-TV business (STRAITS TIMES, 3/15).
