Flat to low digit growth for S'pore telco sector in 2013: analysts

SINGAPORE: The three main telco operators in Singapore will have a tough year ahead as analysts expect flat to low single digit revenue growth, despite the rollout of the high speed 4G network.

The telcos face slowing industry-wide growth and loss of sales in core voice and data markets as their hip, young, internet-based competitors offering free services are stealing market share.

Yet, digital and mobile is where Singapore's biggest telco is placing its biggest bet.

Singtel's group CEO, Chua Sock Koong, said: "Growing the top line would involve better monetisation of mobile data, which is a fast growing area (and) looking at new revenue sources -- that's where our investments in a lot of digital life investments will come true."

According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), vendors will ship more than 1.7 billion mobile phones globally this year.

But the long queues for new releases of smart phones like iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 2 do not immediately translate into higher revenue for SingTel, StarHub and M1.

OCBC Research's senior research manager, Carey Wong, said: "Singapore's penetration rate is already close to 150 percent. It is a very mature market. Any raise in ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) would probably take some time to flow through.

"We are also seeing a little bit of subscriber growth since the penetration is so high. We think low single digit is probably correct for such mature market."

New revenue may come from the telcos moving into content and infrastructure and may also tap upstream customers like government agencies and corporations.

Standard Chartered Bank's director of Technology and Global Equity Research, Don See, said: "We need to see telcos demonstrate willingness to be more entrepreneurial -- to try out new things and to actually have a more bigger willingness to step away from their legacy business to capture some of these growth opportunities."

StarHub has been the outperformer in 2012 with its shares up by 33 percent.

SingTel and M1 have both climbed about 10 percent.

- CNA/lp

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Sankararaman murder case adjourned to January 4

PUDUCHERRY: A local court on Monday adjourned to January 4 the hearing in the Sankararaman murder case in which Kanchi Mutt Seer Jayendra Saraswathi and his junior Vijayendra are the prime accused.

Principal District and Sessions Judge C S Murugan before whom the trial is on, adjourned further proceedings to that date as Special Public Prosecutor N Devadoss could not turn up as he was in Australia in connection with some personal work. The SPP was to have presented arguments in reply to defence counsels of all 24 accused during earlier hearings.

A petition citing the reason for his absence was presented to the court through the police, source said Devadoss would present the arguments on January 4 when hearing resumes.

Only 10 of the 24 accused were present in the court today and the absentees included the two seers and the Manager of the Kanchi Mutt M Sundaresa Iyer.

Sankararaman,former employee of Varadarajaperumal temple in Kancheepuram was allegedly murdered in the temple precincts on Sept 3, 2004. The trial was shifted from Kancheepuram to Puducherry on an order of the Supreme court, issued on a petition by Jayendra Saraswati in October 2005.

The seers have been charged under Sections 120-B(criminal conspiracy) and 302 (murder) of IPC.A total of 189 prosecution witnesses, including Sankararaman's widow,his son and daughter were examined during the trial between 2009 and 2011. Eighty-one of the witnesses had turned hostile during the trial.

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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'We Can't Tolerate This Anymore,' Obama Says

President Barack Obama said at an interfaith prayer service in this mourning community this evening that the country is "left with some hard questions" if it is to curb a rising trend in gun violence, such as the shooting spree Friday at Newtown's Sandy Hook Elementary School.

After consoling victims' families in classrooms at Newtown High School, the president said he would do everything in his power to "engage" a dialogue with Americans, including law enforcement and mental health professionals, because "we can't tolerate this anymore. These tragedies must end. And to end them we must change."

Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images

President Obama: 'Newtown You Are Not Alone' Watch Video

Sandy Hook Elementary Shooting: Remembering the Victims Watch Video

The president was not specific about what he thought would be necessary and did not even use the word "gun" in his remarks, but his speech was widely perceived as prelude to a call for more regulations and restrictions on the availability of firearms.

The grieving small town hosted the memorial service this evening as the the nation pieces together the circumstances that led to a gunman taking 26 lives Friday at the community's Sandy Hook Elementary School, most first graders.

"Someone once described the joy and anxiety of parenthood as the equivalent of having your heart outside your body all of the time, walking around," he said, speaking of the joys and fears of raising children.

"So it comes as a shock at a certain point when you realize no matter how much you love these kids you can't do it by yourself," he continued. "That this job of protecting kids and teaching them well is something we can only do together, with the help of friends and neighbors, with the help of a community, and the help of a nation."

CLICK HERE for Full Coverage of the Tragedy at Sandy Hook

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China commentary urges policy shift as Japan votes

BEIJING: China's state media on Sunday urged Japan to seek a post-election foreign policy that will improve relations with its neighbours, as Japanese voted in a poll likely to bring in a more hawkish administration.

It came just days after Beijing's latest effort to bolster its claim to disputed islands at the centre of a fierce row with Tokyo, by submitting to the United Nations information on the outer limits of its continental shelf.

The state Xinhua news agency commentary called on whichever party comes out on top to "devise its foreign policy with a long-term and pragmatic" view so Japan can "repair its strained ties with neighbours".

Ties between the Asian giants have soured in recent months due to the row over the East China Sea islands, which are controlled by Tokyo but claimed by Beijing.

Commentators believe the dispute has given a boost to right-wingers in Japan, where the conservative Liberal Democratic Party is expected to defeat the ruling Democratic Party of Japan in Sunday's elections for parliament's lower house.

Shinzo Abe, LDP president and the likely next premier, has said he would take a harder line on foreign policy and revitalise ties with the United States.

The Xinhua commentary cited a "troubling sign" that some Japanese political parties are advocating a hardline over the country's territorial disputes.

"These policies, if carried out, will surely further sour Japan's relations with its neighbors and even increase political and military risks in the region," it said.

China's foreign ministry said on Friday that Beijing told the UN in its submission that geographical characteristics "show that the continental shelf of China in the East China Sea extends to the Okinawa Trough, an important geographical unit with remarkable partition."

Such a definition of China's continental shelf would include the disputed islands. Japan's Okinawan islands lie to the east of the trough.

The escalation in the dispute over the uninhabited islands, known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan, was triggered when the Japanese government in September purchased some of the islands from the private Japanese owner.

The purchase triggered sometimes-violent anti-Japanese riots in China.

Ships from Japan, China and Taiwan -- which also claims the island -- have engaged in stand-offs and last week Japan scrambled fighter jets after a Chinese state-owned plane flew over the area.

- AFP/xq

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BJP slams PM's remarks on FDI

CHENNAI: BJP today criticised Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's remarks that those who oppose FDI in retail are "ignorant", saying it is not the opposition which is ignorant, but the UPA government and Congress party.

Addressing a press conference here, senior BJP leader, M Venkaiah Naidu, said the Congress-led government in Kerala opposed FDI and the NCP, which is a partner of UPA coalition, said it will take a decision on implementing FDI in Maharashtra after consultation.

The DMK, an ally of the UPA, had supported the Bharath bandh against FDI and described it as 'Foreign Direct Invasion', he said.

While the Samajwadi Party described FDI in retail as "an invitation to another East India Company" and would not implement in Uttar Pradesh, another UPA outside ally, BSP not only demanded suspension of FDI but also 'complete rollback'.

"Do you mean to say that your government in Kerala, your allies and supporting parties are ignorant, Mr Prime Minister? Who are ignorant and who will be ignored by the people will be known when people get an opportunity," Naidu said.

Addressing the annual general meeting of FICCI yesterday, the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hit out at opponents, saying they were 'ignorant' about global realities or were constrained by 'outdated ideologies'.

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Space Pictures This Week: Frosty Mars, Mini Nile, More

Photograph by Mike Theiss, National Geographic

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, illuminates the Arctic sky in a recent picture by National Geographic photographer Mike Theiss.

A storm chaser by trade, Theiss is in the Arctic Circle on an expedition to photograph auroras, which result from collisions between charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere and gaseous particles in Earth's atmosphere.

After one particularly amazing show, he wrote on YouTube, "The lights were dancing, rolling, and twisting, and at times looked like they were close enough to touch!" (Watch his time-lapse video of the northern lights.)

Published December 14, 2012

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Conn. Victim's Father Remembers 'Loving' Daughter

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Emilie Parker, the little girl with the blond hair and bright blue eyes, would have been one of the first to comfort her classmates at Sandy Hook Elementary School, had a gunman’s bullets not claimed her life, her father said.

“My daughter Emilie would be one of the first ones to be standing and giving support to all the victims because that’s the kind of kid she is,” her father, Robbie Parker said as he fought back tears, telling the world about his “bright, creative and loving” daughter who was one of the 20 young victims in the Newtown, Conn., shooting.

“She always had something kind to say about anybody,” her father said.  ”We find comfort reflecting on the incredible person Emilie was and how many lives she was able to touch.”

Emilie, 6, was helping teach her younger sisters to read and make things, and she was the little girls would go to for comfort, he said.

“They looked up to her,” Parker said.

READ: Complete List of Sandy Hook Victims

Parker moved his wife and three daughters to Newtown eight months ago after accepting a job as  a physician’s assistant at Danbury Hospital. He said Emilie, his oldest daughter, seemed to have adjusted well to her new school, and he was very happy with the school, too.

“I love the people at the school. I love Emilie’s teacher and the classmates we were able to get to know,” he said.

      (Image Credit: Alex von Kleydorff/AP Photo)

The family dealt with another tragic loss in October when Emilie lost her grandfather in an accident.

“[This] has been a topic that has been discussed in our family in the past couple of  months,” Parker said. “[My daughters ages 3 and 4] seem to get the idea that there’s somebody who they will miss very much.”

Emilie, a budding artist who carried her markers and pencils everywhere, paid tribute to her grandfather by slipping a special card she had drawn into his casket, Parker said.  It was something she frequently did to lift the spirits of others.

“I can’t count the number of times Emilie would find someone feeling sad or frustrated and would make people a card,” Parker said. “She was an exceptional artist.”

The girl who was remembered as “always willing to try new things, other than food” was learning Portuguese from her father, who speaks the language.

(Image Credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

On Friday morning, Emilie woke up before her father left for his job and exchanged a few sentences with him in the language.

“She told me good morning and asked how I was doing,” Parker said. “She said she loved me, I gave her a kiss and I was out the door.”

Parker found out about the shooting while on lockdown in Danbury Hospital and found a television for the latest news.

“I didn’t think it was that big of deal at first,” he said. “With the first reports coming in, it didn’t sound like it was going to be as tragic as it was. That’s kind of what it was like for us.”

CLICK HERE for full coverage of the Sandy Hook shooting.

Parker said he knows that God can’t take away free will and would have been unable to stop the Sandy Hook shooting. While gunman Adam Lanza used his free agency to take innocent lives, Parker said he plans to use his in a positive way.

“I’m not mad because I have my  [free] agency to use this event to do whatever I can to make sure my family and my wife and my daughters are taken care [of],” he said. “And if there’s anything I can do to help to anyone at any time at anywhere, I’m free to do that.”

(Image credit: Emilie Parker Fund/Facebook)

Friday night, hours after he learned of his daughter’s death, Parker said he spoke at his church.

“I don’t know how to get through something like this. My wife and I don’t understand how to process all of this,” he said today. “We find strength in our religion and in our faith and in our family. ”

“It’s a horrific tragedy and I want everyone to know our hearts and prayers go out to them. This includes the family of the shooter. I can’t imagine how hard this experience must be for you and I want you to know our family … love and support goes out to you as well.”

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A normally stoic president sheds tears over mass shooting of ‘our children’

President Obama, so often cool and unemotional, struggled to maintain his composure Friday as he addressed a nation reeling from a mass shooting at a Connecticut elementary school.

“The majority of those who died today were children — beautiful little kids between the ages of 5 and 10 years old,” Obama said partway into a four-minute statement.

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India PM says reforms steps "only the beginning"

NEW DELHI: India's premier Manmohan Singh said on Saturday his government's new reforms to spur the economy were "only the beginning", while lashing out at the "excessive pessimism" that he said is hurting growth.

Singh's government has initiated a string of reforms to further open up sectors such as retail, insurance and aviation to foreign investment as it seeks to kickstart growth before facing voters in 2014 elections.

"The steps we have taken are only the beginning of a process to revive our economy and take it back to its trend growth rate of eight to nine per cent," Singh told an audience of corporate leaders in New Delhi.

"Our government has acted to reverse the cycle of negative expectations and stimulate investment," he said.

But "excessive pessimism at home" and a "less supportive" global environment have made the Congress-led government's task of reviving the flagging economy much tougher, he added.

India's economic growth slipped to a near-decade low of 6.5 per cent in the last fiscal year and is expected to fall to around 5.5 per cent this year.

While much of the world would envy such a growth rate, the pace is not enough for India which says it needs close to double-digit expansion to substantially reduce crushing poverty.

"Even as we make our growth process more inclusive, we cannot lower our guard in pursuing policies that restore growth momentum to the economy," Singh said.

He said the government had taken tough decisions to rekindle investor enthusiasm and rein in the ballooning fiscal deficit which has brought warnings of a downgrade from global ratings agencies.

"Some of the decisions we have taken were politically difficult and the naysayers and the cynics have tried to halt us in our tracks," Singh said.

Parties that have been fighting the reforms, including the main opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, "are either ignorant or constrained by outdated ideologies", Singh said.

Last week the fragile minority coalition government succeeded in winning approval for its move to allow in foreign supermarkets -- a flagship of its renewed reform agenda -- despite fierce political opposition.

- AFP/xq

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