A $30b telco shoots for the moon

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Hello readers,

Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. Case in point: Twitter is great (I’m a huge Tweeter) but its new Insta Story-like Fleets feature just seems six years too late. Similarly, Singtel has had its hits and misses, but after over a decade of failed launches and orbiting an effective digital strategy, will 2021 be the year when the telecommunications titan finally lands its moonshot?

Today we look at:

• What the new year could bring for Singtel’s mission for a stellar revival
• The Indonesian fintech platform that closed a debt facility of US$100 million
• Other newsy highlights such as a newcomer to India’s unicorn club and an Uber-like trucking startup getting funding

PREMIUM SUMMARY

Singtel: “New year, new me”

This year hasn’t been great for Singtel, as its revenue has been affected by the pandemic. The Singapore-based telecommunications conglomerate had also tried a lot of digital projects that eventually didn’t fly, but maybe 2021 can bring the change that Singtel needs.

• The shining light: While Singtel may have made more misses than hits, Gomo, its digital mobile plan targeted at millennials, did better than expected. Gomo is even going regional, having launched in Thailand, the Philippines and soon, Australia.
• Banking on digital banking: This year, Singtel jointly applied for a digital banking license with super app Grab. If successful, it could finally see the results of its plan to make money outside of its telco services. It could also push its mobile wallet Dash, which has “more than 1.1 million users” and over 70,000 merchants, in a bigger way.
• Taking a leaf out of other regional telcos’ books: Thailand’s True Corporation is a master at diversification. On top of its telco services, True also offers a video-streaming platform and an e-wallet. It’s a similar case for India-based telco Reliance Jio: The conglomerate has its own smartphone brands, video-conferencing tools, and music-streaming apps, among others.

Dive deeper: Singtel is shooting for the moon. It’s closer than ever to sticking the landing

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