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SingTel to set up 4 mobile innovation centers

update Singapore telco planning four mobile technology innovation centers around the world, as part of its push into digital content space, according to report.
Written by Liau Yun Qing, Contributor

update SINGAPORE--Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel) will be setting up four mobile technology innovation centers which are expected to operate within six months, according to a local report.

According to Allen Lew, CEO of SingTel's digital life group, the centers will be funded by the company and potential software partners which will also supply researchers. One of the facilities will be based in Singapore but the location of the three global facilities has not been confirmed yet, he told local broadsheet The Straits Times.

In an e-mail to ZDNet Asia, a SingTel spokesperson confirmed the report, adding that the location of the overseas centers will be announced "within the coming months" and they may be in developed or developing markets.

According to the report, the centers will focus on technologies such as data analytics, behavioral science, location sensing and mobile payment technology. The applications developed by the innovation centers will be commercialized and tested in the six Asia-Pacific markets which SingTel operates in and will also be sold to other telcos and equipment makers worldwide, it added.

The SingTel spokesperson added that the centers will be managed by SingTel in partnership with research institutes, universities, software and hardware developers.

"The centers will focus on researching and developing technologies designed to make the mobile an engaging personalised instrument of commerce, for example [through] data analytics, mobile payment technologies and recommendation engines, and to make the TV experience truly one-on-one and interactive," he said.

The move is part of SingTel's plans to expand from its core carriage business to becoming a provider of ICT services. The company announced a regional organizational restructuring which saw it split its business into enterprise and consumer services.

Updated Apr. 13, 2.05 p.m. with response from SingTel.

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