STARHUB'S offer to host SingTel's pay-TV channels - including its star striker, the English Premier League (EPL) - for free is a bold move, but it will fail.

At first sight, the proposition seems tenable. It would help soothe soccer fans crying foul over the inconvenience of having two set-top boxes to continue catching striker Wayne Rooney's deft touches while enjoying existing favourites like Discovery.

Under the proposal, SingTel's mio TV channels could air on StarHub's cable-TV box, just as viewers have been catching MediaCorp's free-to-air offerings, such as Channels 5 and 8, through the cable box for years. And since StarHub is doing this pro bono, SingTel has nothing to lose, or so the argument goes.

On paper, SingTel has potentially more to gain than just making Singaporeans happy. Currently, mio TV can reach out to only 95 per cent of the nation, but I suspect the figure is actually even lower, judging by anecdotal evidence supplied by many Singaporeans who have been told their homes are not 'mio TV-ready'.

No surprise then that StarHub chief executive Terry Clontz, in his first interview since SingTel's EPL win, raised doubts about his rival's ability to wire up the entire country before the next EPL season starts in August 2010. SingTel Singapore's CEO Allen Lew responded quickly, stressing it would deliver the goods in time. If SingTel accepted the offer, it wouldn't have to worry about losing face if it fails to fulfil its promise.

You might find the lack of coverage strange, as mio TV runs on the same telephone lines that power SingNet's broadband Internet service of many years. They make use of the same asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) technology to transmit data and video packets over phone lines to homes. The problem with ADSL technology - it has hit a speed wall at 25 Mbps, while rival StarHub's cable broadband has raced ahead to 100 Mbps, and can still grow.

Read the full story in tomorrow's edition of The Straits Times.