More time for StarHub TV users to go on fibre

StarHub pay-TV cable customers will now have more time to make the switch to fibre, with the telco extending the life of its cable network by three months.

StarHub announced yesterday that it has pushed back the date it will cease cable services from June 30 to Sept 30 this year. The last day that customers can sign up for cable-to-fibre migration is Aug 31.

StarHub said a surge in migration applications from customers in the past few days resulted in a large backlog and this was the reason behind the decision to extend the deadline.

It declined to reveal how many applications were received, but said that its current base of cable customers is "small and decreasing" and that a "large majority" of its 394,000 pay-TV customers have already made the switch.

"We appreciate the wide acceptance of our fibre service offers by a large majority of our cable customers. Our teams have worked tirelessly over the past several months, helping these customers migrate successfully to fibre," said StarHub's consumer business group chief Johan Buse.

The telco has been facilitating customers' migration from a 25-year-old cable technology since last November, and is working with fibre network operator NetLink Trust to resolve fibre installation delays due to the more complex infrastructure requirements in ducts and wiring to some homes.

Figures on the Infocomm Media Development Authority's website show that there were 117,300 cable modem subscriptions as of last December.

Existing StarHub cable customers will continue to pay the same amount for their subscriptions upon switching to fibre. They will also not be charged for installation of fibre services.

The telco also has a range of promotional offers as incentives for switching, including discounted subscriptions, a free wireless router and free fibre set-top box rental.

Customers can continue subscribing to cable services until fibre services are installed for them, or up to Sept 30, whichever comes earlier.

StarHub is the sole cable TV operator here. Its existing network leasing agreement with Singtel - which is crucial for StarHub's cable broadband and TV services - is coming to an end in March next year.

The long-term lease dates back to the early 1990s when StarHub's predecessor, Singapore Cable Vision, was set up. It had to lease Singtel's networks as the latter had a monopoly on telecommunications facilities.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 25, 2019, with the headline More time for StarHub TV users to go on fibre. Subscribe