BEFORE the end of his first year at the helm of StarHub, Nikhil Eapen did the unthinkable. 

Eapen became the chief executive of StarHub on Jan 1, 2021. And Singapore’s second-biggest telco looked on track to wrap the year with decent revenue growth, good earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) expansion, and strong free cash flow.

But, in November 2021, he went to the market to announce an audacious multi-year plan that was going to cost S$270 million and diminish its service Ebitda margin from 30 per cent to around 20 per cent in the coming years.