StarHub customers in some areas of Singapore are now able to benefit from 5G services, since the telco turned on its 5G trial on the 18 August. Currently its 5G network covers around 70% of the country’s populated areas, with a full commercial launch scheduled for early 2021.
Starhub is working with Nokia as its network partner to rollout 5G on the 2100MHz spectrum on a non-standalone architecture, with a standalone 5G network running on 3.5GHz spectrum expected in mid-2021.
Financial analysts are bullish about the prospects for Starhub’s 5G offerings, with UOBKH recently upgrading its shares to “buy” status. Analysts Chong Lee Len and Chloe Tan commented that there had been “encouraging” take-up of Starhub’s 5G packages which, when combined with the rollout of more affordable 5G handsets, indicated potential to increase revenues by bundling mobile plans with services such as gaming, virtual and augmented reality services.
One such service is Starhub’s new exclusive Cloud gaming service, rolled out in partnership with London-based Antstream Arcade in an Asia-Pacific first. Customers of StarHub’s Mobile+ and Biz+ plans who have a compatible handset, such as a Huawei P40 Pro+ 5G or Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G, can now take advantage of early 5G services such as this, which enables mobile postpaid customers to access the world’s largest library of 1000+ retro games. The games are available on any device, with the service also providing access to exclusive tournaments and gaming events. It is free for one month and will be charged at $8.99 thereafter.
Commenting on the partnership, Steve Cottam, CEO of Antstream, said: “We’re very excited to announce our partnership with StarHub in Singapore as part of our global drive to make classic games available to gamers everywhere. We believe Antstream’s cloud gaming application offers telcos a perfect path to benefit their investments in cloud infrastructure and consumer entertainment. With thousands of games to choose from spanning 40 years of gaming history we’re confident everyone can find something they will enjoy.”