No success in telcos' fight to grow profits

LOCAL telcos Singtel and StarHub both turned in double-digit declines in underlying earnings for the latest reporting period - outpacing the dips in their revenues.

Their report cards put them in a pool of developed market network providers struggling to stay relevant and profit from their years of infrastructure investments.

Although demand for connectivity is high, telcos have not been able to grow their share of the profit pool - nor attract their share of investors.

Customers may use up Internet bandwidth downloading movies and music or browsing social media, but it is the likes of Facebook, Alphabet, Apple and Netflix that are winning the extra dollars.

In 2018, a new Communication Services sector was added to the Global Industry Classification Standard (GICS) - supplanting t…

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