August 12, 2026

What should a telecoms company be when phone calls and SMS are no longer where the real value lies? In “The old model is broken. Telcos need to reinvent themselves” (The Straits Times, 24 June 2026), Assistant Professor Tiffany Tsai (NUS Economics) examines the pressures facing Singapore’s telecommunications sector and argues that the debate should go beyond whether the market can sustain three or four telcos. While consolidation may ease some strain, she suggests that it will not solve the deeper problem: telcos need a new business model.

Singapore’s telecoms sector has gone through more than three decades of liberalisation and competition, from the corporatisation of Singtel in 1992 to the entry of M1 in 1997 and StarHub in 2000. Competition gave consumers more choice, but the conditions that once made telecommunications highly profitable have changed. Voice calls and SMS have been displaced by internet-based messaging, while consumers now expect large amounts of data at low prices.

At the same time, telcos still carry traffic, maintain networks, and invest in costly infrastructure. Much of the value, however, is now captured by digital platforms and services that depend on these networks. Competition has also intensified, especially after TPG, now Simba, entered the market, pushing mobile plans further towards low-cost, high-data offerings.

Tsai notes that consolidation has an economic logic in a small and saturated market. Fewer players could reduce duplicated infrastructure investment and improve cost efficiency. However, consolidation alone would not create a new growth model if telcos remain trapped in the same commoditised “pipe” business.

Instead, she argues that telcos should reposition themselves as trusted providers of digital infrastructure. Artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, smart logistics, financial technology, and digital government all depend on secure and resilient connectivity. This gives telcos a chance to move beyond mobile plans and fibre bundles into areas such as cybersecurity, enterprise services, data centres, cloud partnerships, and regional digital infrastructure.

Policy will also matter. The Infocomm Media Development Authority could encourage collaboration short of full mergers, such as network sharing, infrastructure pooling, cybersecurity standards, and enterprise 5G sandboxes. Future merger assessments should also consider whether consolidation supports investment, resilience, innovation, and digital infrastructure, rather than focusing only on prices and market share.

Tsai’s central point is that consolidation may be necessary, but it is not sufficient. Singapore’s telcos do not only need fewer competitors, they need to rethink their role in a digital economy that increasingly depends on secure, reliable, and intelligent connectivity.

Read the article here.