SOME OF SINGTEL’S ASSOCIATES ARE FACING FIERCE COMPETITION IN THEIR MARKETS. WHAT IS THE GROUP’S STRATEGY IN THIS CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT?

Arthur: It remained a challenging year for Airtel, but the market in India is starting to stabilise and return to a healthier and more sustainable structure. With customers consuming an average of 11Gb of data each month, I remain optimistic about India’s future in a data-driven economy. Elsewhere in the region, we are starting to see reduced headwinds.

It has always been our strategy to lead in network superiority and we are strengthening this leadership through continued investment which has seen AIS deliver fibre broadband in Thailand and Globe ready to launch 5G fixed wireless home broadband services in the Philippines later this year. We’re also focused on product and services innovation to deliver a better customer experience for our 690 million mobile customers. For instance, in Indonesia, a vibrant hub for start-ups, Telkomsel established an investment fund to help promising companies accelerate growth. This is with a view of tapping into their ideas to enhance our content and digital services offerings that will help us monetise data growth.

The associates remain some of the strongest operators in their markets, and with high mobile penetration and mobile-first lifestyles in the region, I am excited about the tremendous growth potential of Asia’s emerging markets as we build a regional ecosystem of digital services.

WHY HAVE YOU DECIDED TO EXPAND INTO MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES WITH DASH AND VIA?

Arthur: The domestic wallet business is fragmented and hard to differentiate, with demand for mobile financial services – not just payments – on the rise. Against this backdrop, we see the potential for our mobile wallet Dash to be the foundation on which to develop a larger ecosystem of financial services. As we expand its merchant network and add more services, Dash is evolving into an app for all our customers’ everyday financial and lifestyle needs whether in-store or online. Our associates are also executing similar strategies with their own mobile wallets.

Arthur: The domestic wallet business is fragmented and hard to differentiate, with demand for mobile financial services – not just payments – on the rise. Against this backdrop, we see the potential for our mobile wallet Dash to be the foundation on which to develop a larger ecosystem of financial services. As we expand its merchant network and add more services, Dash is evolving into an app for all our customers’ everyday financial and lifestyle needs whether in-store or online. Our associates are also executing similar strategies with their own mobile wallets.

We created VIA, Asia’s first cross-border mobile payment alliance, to differentiate our wallets from many localised wallet systems and to address the fragmented payments scene in the region. We see both Dash and VIA as twin engines of growth in mobile financial services.

HOW ARE YOU BUILDING ON VIA TO CREATE A LARGER FINANCIAL SERVICES ECOSYSTEM?

Arthur: VIA is the key to connecting the region and beyond with an interoperable platform that allows any wallet to easily tap into a larger consumer and merchant network across Asia. This means partners can access a huge addressable market with us as we build up the alliance, just as our customers will enjoy greater connectivity and shopping options across the region.

This also opens up smaller hyper-local merchants to a much larger pool of customers. The reach of the network has tremendous potential to benefit everyone. With such a platform, we can branch out to offer a greater range of financial services. We look forward to engaging the rest of our associates and inviting more partners to VIA as we enter into the second stage of this journey.

YOU’VE ALSO MADE SIMILAR BOLD MOVES IN ESPORTS. HOW DO YOUR ESPORTS INITIATIVES SYNERGISE WITH YOUR OTHER DIGITAL BUSINESSES?

Arthur: Our esports initiatives are part of the Group’s larger efforts to grow our digital content business and engage millennial and Gen Z audiences. Our services such as content, high-speed broadband and payments, along with the billing relationships we have with customers, put us in a unique position to offer digital services, making gaming more accessible while improving the experience.

The aim is for PVP, our gaming brand, to be a major ecosystem partner in the regional gaming and esports scene. Through our PVP Esports leagues and collaboration with like-minded partners, we hope to bring gaming into the mainstream and connect with gamers and youths. We are excited to be sponsoring Singapore’s first esports SEA Games teams in 2019 and look forward to bigger things to come. We see tremendous opportunity in the network effect of the gaming community and believe in the long-term prospects of this market.