StarHub English Premier LeagueSolutionStarHub Limited is a f

StarHub: English Premier League

Solution

StarHub Limited is a full-fledged telecommunications company providing a full range of services over mobile, internet and fixed platforms in Singapore.Straight Line SingTel, StarHub: Just give us the football we paid for’

COMMENT

The long-running SingTel-StarHub spat over English Premier League (EPL) broadcasts in Singapore is starting to resemble a silly schoolboy spat in the playground.

One that football fans shouldn\'t give two hoots about, yet have no choice but to -- because we are literally paying the price for this childish, corporate battle of red and green.

The drama re-opened last month when SingTel was ordered to share EPL content with Star Hub for the next three seasons.

That same day, SingTel announced that the price for its EPL package would be increased from S$34.90 to S$59.90 -- an over 70% hike that sparked all-round furore.

A week later, StarHub played good cop by offering a S$30 monthly rebate, valid up to S$600 over the next two seasons. But its customers will still be charged the S$59.90 set by rights-owner SingTel.

\"An obscene amount\", as fresh grad Hiren Mahesh Kumar called it, but for all the mumbling and grumbling, we still pay up and live with it.

Because, as a friend points out, in this age of torrents and illegal streams, sports -- especially football, in this country -- remains one of the few reasons why anyone bothers to subscribe to cable TV at all.

Most of us have no qualms forking out the dough for (at least) 90 minutes of beer-clinking, fist-pumping, home-box-office solidarity.

And now, incredibly, this sacred space could be under threat for some, even as the new EPL season looms mere days away from its Saturday kick-off.

War-of-words

The most recent tussle between SingTel and StarHub took place Monday when the latter accused its competitor of stalling on its cross-carriage provisioning orders.

This was despite SingTel starting sales on 1 August, said Lin Shu Fen, head of home solutions at StarHub.

\"We assure customers that StarHub will do all we can, to be ready for our customers, to broadcast on the opening day of the season,\" she added.

SingTel responded by dismissing the 1 August date, stating that \"system connectivity testing between both parties was only completed on 9 August\".

A spokesperson from the telco said it was \"agreed  \"system connectivity testing between both parties was only completed on 9 August\".

A spokesperson from the telco said it was \"agreed that 12 August was the deadline for the first batch of provisioning orders, which have been sent to them\". The statement added, \"we hope that StarHub will also fulfil their responsibility to ensure that cross-carried content is activated in time for the first EPL match this Saturday\".

Later that day, StarHub confirmed it had received the orders, but took the chance to retort that \"there was no such agreement (on the 12 August deadline)\" between them and SingTel.

\"Our minutes of meetings and emails with our competitor bear this out,\" declared Lin.

We hope that in the spirit of good sportsmanship, they will not let any customer down, even if the customer chooses to watch on StarHub\'s platform,\" she said.

Lin then assured customers that \"StarHub would do its utmost to provision... cross carriage broadcast of the opening matches\".

Sorry -- but loose words like \"do all we can\" and \"hope\" simply don\'t cut it.

Not when our money and our football are at stake in this ridiculous blame game.

Customer is king

Should the worst-case scenario occur, with StarHub subscribers missing the EPL\'s opening matches, there\'s no telling what kind of hell would break loose.

A total home cable TV boycott in favour of pubs, kopitiams or of course, the Internet? Very possible.

\"I won\'t be held ransom,\" said Azmi Suhaimi, 27, who subscribed to StarHub\'s Football Channel for the Dutch, German, and Portuguese -- just not English -- leagues.

If SingTel and Star Hub want their EPL business -- a very lucrative one indeed -- they would do well to exit this playground feud and get their act together.

And here\'s the other thing that puzzles me: wasn\'t all this free-market competition between the Telco’s supposed to LOWER prices instead of the total opposite? Why are we now made to pay through the nose?

StarHub subscriber, Claudio Chock, sums it up best.

\"This cross-carriage was to benefit us subscribers, so hopefully both sides can come to terms with it and just give us the coverage.\"

\"Customers are and always will be our priority\", as claimed by one of countless statements/barbs issued by the Telco’s.