StarHub now offers Netflix with entertainment and broadband bundle; Singtel counters with promotional bundle
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SINGAPORE — Telco and pay TV provider StarHub announced last Friday (6 March) that it is adding Netflix as a service within a new entertainment and broadband bundle, promising substantial savings for customers.
Singtel followed hot on StarHub’s heels, telling Yahoo Lifestyle SEA that from 7 March onwards, it was offering a new promotional broadband/pay TV bundle at reduced prices to which customers could add a standard Netflix subscription.
StarHub’s new HomeHub Plus bundle consists of 1Gbps fibre broadband, one StarHub Entertainment Pass with up to 47 channels, and a standard Netflix subscription, which lets customers stream content from Netflix on two devices at the same time. This bundle is offered on a two-year contract basis at a subscription cost of $79.90 per month. Netflix has a dedicated channel (Channel 525) on the StarHub set-top box.
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The HomeHub Plus bundle comes with free service activation, installation and rental of the first set-top box. As a launch promotion, customers who sign up for the HomeHub Plus now will receive a free additional Entertainment Pass for two years and, according to StarHub, enjoy cost savings of over $300 a year by “hubbing” together three stand-alone services.
All existing Netflix subscribers can also sign up for HomeHub Plus by nominating their existing Netflix account to StarHub. Customers can also choose to upgrade to the Premium Netflix plan to enjoy simultaneous streaming on up to four screens, for $4 more per month.
For Singtel broadband and TV customers, Netflix was previously already available as an add-on channel on Singtel TV via set-top box channel 404. Customers could also subscribe to Netflix via Singtel at the standard prices, in order to consolidate their Netflix subscription with Singtel in one bill.
Now, Singtel is offering a promotional 24-month broadband package, under which a plan that includes 1Gbps fibre broadband and Singtel TV Family Pack channels would cost $61.50 per month. Adding a standard Netflix subscription ($15.98 on two devices) to this plan, and accounting for Netflix’s usual free first-month trial, would amount to a cost of $76.81 per month over 24 months. It is unclear when this promotion will end.
Although Singtel’s monthly subscription fee for the above plan is nominally lower than StarHub’s price of $79.90 for its HomeHub Plus bundle, Singtel does charge a monthly set-top box rental fee for existing customers; StarHub customers also do not have to pay a fee for the streaming app that accompanies the all-in-one bundle, unlike under Singtel.
Johan Buse, chief of StarHub’s consumer business group, StarHub, said, “Etched in our #HelloChange journey is the commitment to simplify and deliver best value to our customers. The new HomeHub Plus is the best of the best, all in one, for families with diverse entertainment needs.”
Tony Zameczkowski, Netflix’s vice-president of business development, said, “With the HomeHub Plus bundle, we hope that more people in Singapore will be able to enjoy Netflix on the device of their choice: at home, from the StarHub set-top-box, using the dedicated channel (525). And on their phones and tablets on the go, letting you pick up on one device where you left off on another.”
