Introduction

 

“They pay about a dollar a game to watch in the comfort of their homes. I think they can afford it. It is less than a cup of coffee” – Edward Ying, SingTel chief of content and media services.

“We negotiated hard for the World Cup rights for over a year, with the best interests of the nation at heart” – Tong Tan Hai, Starhub chief operating officer.

“It’s a clear case of exploitation pricing. They have no concern for the public even under this economy crisis and think that we will pay regardless” – John Chua, founder of ‘Mass Boycott of SingTel/Starhub’ Facebook group.

On May 7 2010, Singapore telecommunications companies, Starhub and SingTel announced they had clinched the broadcast rights to host the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Both companies would show all 64 matches live and in high definition across television, mobile and online platforms.

After tense negotiations with football world governing body, FIFA, it looked likely there wouldn’t be any World Cup coverage for the tiny but football-mad country.

The Singapore public should have been rejoicing. However for the first time, Singaporean citizens were not sucked in. The expensive subscription prices sparked an outrage that had never been seen before.

 World Cup Package pricing in Singapore

SingTel and Starhub would charge existing customers the ‘early bird’ price of $70.62 (Singapore dollars) before May 31^st. After this date, customers would have to pay $94.16 dollars. New customers would have to fork out between $160-206 dollars for the four-week World Cup package. Commercial establishments such as bars, restaurants and coffee shops will be charged up to $4,888 dollars to show the World Cup.

For the 2006 World Cup, Starhub charged consumers $10.50. The telecommunications companies refused to disclose the reasons for the sevenfold increase in the price or how much they paid for the broadcast rights due to confidentiality contracts.

 World Cup Package pricing around the world

To give this some global context, it is free to watch the World Cup in countries such as Australia, England, China and Indonesia.

Singapore’s neighbours, Malaysia and Hong Kong will not charge cable existing subscribers extra.

It will only cost $7 and $10 dollars respectively in India and Japan.

It is seven times more expensive to watch the World Cup in Singapore than anywhere else in the world. This is soon after the global financial crisis crippled so many working class Singaporean families.

It is little wonder Singaporeans are so disgruntled. They have clearly had enough. The solution was to make a statement through the only way possible – social media. The message was loud and clear: Singaporeans would boycott SingTel, Starhub and all related advertisers and sponsors.