SingTel announces organisational restructure

SingTel, owner of Australia’s second largest telco, Optus, today announced a revamp of its organisational structure.

The new structure is based on customer segments and will take place on 1 April 2012.

Group Consumer will provide communication, infotainment and technology services to consumers and small businesses across Asia-Pacific.

The consumer group will be led by Paul O’Sullivan - previously CEO of Optus - and will include the organisation’s Australian and Singaporean consumer arms, as well as its International Group.

Group Digital L!fe will focus on what SingTel term’s “cutting-edge digital services”.

The group will be headed by Allen Lew, previously SingTel’s Singapore CEO, and will include a variety of SingTel entities, including: Concierge & Hyperlocal, NextGen TV, SingTel Innov8, Amobee, the company’s eCommerce branch and its Communities and Ecosystems unit.

Group ICT will focus on providing ICT solutions to serve enterprise customers, offering IT and telecommunications solutions across multiple geographies. Lew will act as CEO as SingTel searches for a permanent CEO.

The ICT group will include SingTel’s Business Group, Enterprise Data & Managed Services, NCS and Optus Business branches.

Chua Sock Koong, SingTel Group CEO, said: “The changes to how we organise ourselves are necessary in order to align our people and resources to sharpen our focus and take advantage of these opportunities.”

Nicole McCormick, Ovum Senior Analyst Telco Strategy, said: “SingTel’s regional restructure is indeed a ‘bold’ but necessary move.

“Regional strategies in [the consumer, digital life and ICT] areas make much more sense than piecemeal efforts scattered across country markets. This is a direct attempt by SingTel to ‘disrupt adjacent’ verticals and the over-the-top players by leveraging its regional footprint to maximise the impact of its OTT initiatives,” the analyst said.

However, the restructure will pose new problems for SingTel.

“Country differences will need to be taken into account, and SingTel must successfully integrate its new regional strategy with its country strategies. SingTel’s minority stake in many of its subsidiaries will complicate this.

“Mobile advertising will also be a slow game. However, by and large, we welcome the move to streamline and integrate the group. This signals SingTel’s willingness to `change with the times’ in this difficult era for operators,” McCormick said.