Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and StarHub have signed a memorandum of understanding to take advantage of opportunities in the converged media space.

The partnership - the first between a media organisation and a telco here - will span areas such as advertising sales, cross-media content creation and publishing, data analytics and marketing.

For instance, consumers can expect bundled newspaper and mobile data subscription deals in the months to come. Details are still being worked out.

Both organisations will also jointly develop local content to be published across their print, online, mobile and TV platforms.

SPH chief executive Alan Chan said the partnership is part of a larger strategy to build an integrated, multi-platform business.

"Together, I am confident that we can stay at the forefront of the evolving media landscape," he said.

SPH publishes the flagship English-language broadsheet The Straits Times, financial daily The Business Times and Chinese-language broadsheet Lianhe Zaobao, among others.

StarHub chief executive Tan Tong Hai said advertisers can look forward to more integrated and targeted advertising offerings.

Both organisations plan to apply data analytics technologies to mobile users' locations and what they read online, for instance, for deeper customer insight.

"There is one objective: to understand consumers' digital consumption... to better anticipate their needs," said Mr Tan.

He assured consumers that their personal data will be protected; only aggregated, anonymous consumer data will be analysed.

Footfall at SPH's retail assets - The Seletar Mall , Paragon and The Clementi Mall - will also be studied for retail intelligence.

"We will definitely make use of data analytics to drive traffic to our malls," said Mr Anthony Tan, executive vice-president of SPH's Chinese Media group, and its Media Strategy and Analytics arm.

Collaboration between SPH and StarHub goes back over a decade.

In May 2003, they launched the free info-educational channel, Sars Channel, with broadcaster Mediacorp. It aired programmes about the severe acute respiratory syndrome in the four major languages and selected Chinese dialects.

In 2005, SPH provided mobile breaking news for StarHub's i-mode mobile Internet subscribers. In August last year, the two produced and aired an eight-episode talk show, Ministerial Coffee Talk. Last month, StarHub also sponsored The Straits Times Digital Awards 2016, which recognises the best gadgets, games and innovations in the previous year.