StarHub to entice biz users with 'trusted infrastructure'

SINGAPORE--StarHub, one of the country's three telecommunication operators, is basing its next-generation national broadband network (NBN) roadmap to entice enterprise customers on two words: "trusted infrastructure", senior executives revealed.

StarHub CEO Neil Montefiore said Thursday during a media briefing that the telco has been busy adding to its fiber-optic network on top of its existing cable setup to ensure its infrastructure complements the NBN once the nationwide fiber initiative is fully operational in 2012.

He pointed out that the company's fiber cable coverage is currently about 2,000 kilometers and serves about 1,000 business buildings. StarHub's reach will extend to 20,000 locations once the NBN is fully deployed throughout the country, and the dual infrastructure should give enterprise customers the confidence of never having to experience network downtime should they choose to engage StarHub's services, the CEO noted.

"Our fiber infrastructure, due to its wide coverage, will be able to tap directly to [the network company] OpenNet's fiber, which will be key [to support network robustness and resilience]," Montefiore said, adding that if OpenNet's fiber fails, customers can immediately switch over to StarHub's own fiber network.

He said this alternative offering will be readily received by big enterprises such as banks and financial institutions that would typically engage different operators to ensure that there will be no downtime in their business operations.

Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) will similarly gain from having quick and agile network access, which was previously only available to enterprises due to the prohibitive costs, which would allow them to better compete in the market place, Montefiore added.

Furthermore, companies that conduct their business in the United States or have headquarters sited there can be assured of its network connection to that corner of the world, said StarHub COO Tan Tong Hai.

This is because the telco is the operator of the Asia-America Gateway (AAG) cable network landing site, which gives customers a direct cable network link to the U.S., he explained. Customers will no longer need to worry about network downtime or increased costs due to the leasing of such network links, the COO added.

Tan also noted that enterprise customers will be looking to replace their leased lines with the introduction of the NBN and to address this, StarHub will be offering its Ethernet Local Link and Switched Ethernet services. These services, which are currently available only through StarHub, will allow companies to set up "intranet" connections between several offices throughout Singapore, he said.

According to the company, prices for these services will vary depending on the broadband speed requirements and the number of connected sites.

As for its new Fibre 100Mbps (NextGen) service targeting businesses, the monthly charge is S$268 (US$198.16) and users will have unlimited broadband access of up to 100Mbps. Users can also choose from a variety of mobile plans and cloud computing services as part of the bundle offered, the company said.

The cloud computing services are offered in partnership with third-party vendors such as Wincor-Nixdorf, Zscaler and Justlogin, according to Tan. These companies, he added, will be providing software-as-a-service (SaaS) cloud products such as electronic point-of-sale technologies, Web and e-mail security as well as human resource management tools.

These offerings put StarHub in a different cloud playing field as rival telco Singapore Telecommunications (SingTel), which had earlier announced that it is one of the first Asia-Pacific telcos, together with Optus, to be selected by virtualization software vendor VMware to join its vCloud Datacenter service program.

This program certifies that SingTel's data center, which will be based on VMware's vSphere, vCloud Director and vShield products, is secure, compliant and offer up to 99.999 percent availability to the telco's partners and customers.

"Through this relationship, SingTel can enable enterprises to extend their private cloud resources into our trusted, secure hybrid cloud [offering]," said Bill Chang, executive vice president of SingTel's business group, in a media statement.

Earlier this week, SingTel also revealed it would offer customers access to its online storage, real-time backup and data collaboration services to boost productivity.

When quizzed on whether StarHub is looking to offer similar infrastructure-as-a-service capabilities to its customers, Chong Pow Min, assistant vice president of StarHub's business solutions, told ZDNet Asia on the sidelines of the briefing that the telco is looking only to provide SaaS as its cloud offerings.

"We are looking to provide services that would free up our customers, particularly the SMBs, from having to bother with high upfront costs to set up their IT infrastructure and offer them services that they can use from the box," he said.

On why StarHub is working with third-party vendors instead of offering these services directly to customers, Chong said that these vendors such as Justlogin, a local human resource management software provider, are best-of-breed companies that are "leaders in their fields". StarHub, he pointed out, was not looking to compete with such vendors--instead, the telco is keen to lend its weight and credibility behind these players, which might otherwise not have the reach and marketing resources to expand their businesses.

Human touch a key differentiator
Meanwhile, StarHub is banking on high-quality support service to lure consumers away from offerings by rival retail service providers such as SingTel and M1.

The telco introduced Thursday four new NBN-based home broadband plans branded as "MaxInfinity". The packages range from S$68.27 (US$50.48) for its lowest-end MaxInfinity Ultimate plan to S$395.90 (US$292.73) for its MaxInfinity Supreme plan. While the former will come with download speeds of 100Mbps, the top-tier offering boasts 1Gbps download speed and 100Mbps international speed.

All plans will come with a promotional bundle that includes services such as free 2Mbps mobile broadband access and a free micro-SIM card, with the offer valid until end-September.

Hubbing packages, which include subscription to the telco's cable TV and mobile plans, will also come with one free service call from the company's Hub Troopers--a dedicated group of support staff that will help install, update and troubleshoot any broadband-related issues that crop up, said Tan.

"We are not looking to sell a product, but rather a service. It is no longer enough to differentiate ourselves through pipe access, and we believe that our quality of [service] will bring customer loyalty," the COO noted.