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COUNT slowly from one to five. That's how long it takes to make one group of soccer fans complain, while another group is cheering a World Cup goal.
The telecasts of the matches from SingTel come with a slight time lag. Fans watching at eateries or pubs subscribing to SingTel's mio TV find that those watching on StarHub get to see goals earlier.
This means that if there are two neighbouring outlets, one subscribing to SingTel and the other to StarHub, cheers from the latter erupt while fans at the former may still be seeingthe ball far from the goal.
The delay is about five seconds. Now the operators of some of these outlets have decided enough is enough and switched to StarHub. Among them is the Bull and Bear, a pub at Pekin Street in Chinatown.
Said Mr Tony Coughlan, managing director of Tadcaster Hospitality, which owns the pub: "We switched over after the opening night. There was an almost seven-second delay. "That is huge. The ball can travel from one side of the pitch to the other." Mr Coughlan said the neighbouring outlets were all StarHub subscribers. He said: "We decided from a business perspective that it was not going to cut it. Both StarHub and SingTel are charging the same price but providing different levels of service."
Mr Coughlan paid about $5,500 for the rights to screen the World Cup on two LCD screens. He said SingTel is giving him a full refund. Mr Bob Khan, general manager of Le Baroque and La Cave bars at Chijmes, said they spent more than $15,000 on screening rights, three large screens and projectors. But his customers were left slackjawed at the transmission delay during the opening night
He said: "The customers at Harry's Bar (next door, which is on StarHub) started cheering when there was a goal, but on my screen the ball hadn't even hit the net.
"I felt that I was short-changing my customers. They were paying full price for their food and drinks and I'm not returning the favour by screening a live telecast match." Mr Khan said that almost 90 per cent of his customers were left disgruntled by their experience that night. After discussing it with his boss, Mr Khan called SingTel the next day and terminated his bars' contract with it, to switch to StarHub TV. He said ShgTel has informed him that he will be given a full refund.
Kampong Cafe, at Pekin Street, is also making the switch from SingTel to StarHub. Its director, Mr Eddie Pek, said: "My customers have complained about the delay since the start of the World Cup." Four other restaurants and pubs along the street are screening the World Cup on StarHub feeds.
Mr Pek said he paid $3,090 to screen the matches on his 47-inch LCD TV.
When The New Paper was there on Tuesday night, the patrons were watching the match between Ivory Coast and Portugal.
Every attempt at goal in the scoreless draw was met by "oohs" and "aahs" from the outlet next door - at least five seconds before the attempt was seen on Kampong Cafe's TV screen. Mr Pek claims SingTel did not inform him of the delay beforehand.
Undergraduate Geraldine Tan, 21, who had watched for some time at Kampong Cafe, said: "It's really such a spoiler. It destroys all the anticipation and the magic of the moment."
But some bars are sticking with SingTel. Staff at Indochine's outlet at Wisma Atria noticed the delay, but said they have not received any complaints from patrons. Said Indochine Group's marketing manager, Mr Jason Glander: "Our guests are still able to follow and enjoy the game closely even though there is a slight delay, so we'll just be continuing our subscription with SingTel. "
SingTel's mio TV is delivered via Internet Protocol TV networks. A source familiar with the technology explained that the lag was due to delays in encoding the transmission signals.
A SingTel spokesman told The New Paper that it was aware some businesses have been affected by the delay in the broadcast. She said: "As a gesture of goodwill, and as 2010 Fifa World Cup partners, we have asked that StarHub provide the World Cup feed to these customers at no extra cost so that they will not be at any disadvantage during the World Cup season." Asked whether it had informed customers about the delay before they bought the package, SingTel did not comment.
The telecasts of the matches from SingTel come with a slight time lag. Fans watching at eateries or pubs subscribing to SingTel's mio TV find that those watching on StarHub get to see goals earlier.
This means that if there are two neighbouring outlets, one subscribing to SingTel and the other to StarHub, cheers from the latter erupt while fans at the former may still be seeingthe ball far from the goal.
The delay is about five seconds. Now the operators of some of these outlets have decided enough is enough and switched to StarHub. Among them is the Bull and Bear, a pub at Pekin Street in Chinatown.
Said Mr Tony Coughlan, managing director of Tadcaster Hospitality, which owns the pub: "We switched over after the opening night. There was an almost seven-second delay. "That is huge. The ball can travel from one side of the pitch to the other." Mr Coughlan said the neighbouring outlets were all StarHub subscribers. He said: "We decided from a business perspective that it was not going to cut it. Both StarHub and SingTel are charging the same price but providing different levels of service."
Mr Coughlan paid about $5,500 for the rights to screen the World Cup on two LCD screens. He said SingTel is giving him a full refund. Mr Bob Khan, general manager of Le Baroque and La Cave bars at Chijmes, said they spent more than $15,000 on screening rights, three large screens and projectors. But his customers were left slackjawed at the transmission delay during the opening night
He said: "The customers at Harry's Bar (next door, which is on StarHub) started cheering when there was a goal, but on my screen the ball hadn't even hit the net.
"I felt that I was short-changing my customers. They were paying full price for their food and drinks and I'm not returning the favour by screening a live telecast match." Mr Khan said that almost 90 per cent of his customers were left disgruntled by their experience that night. After discussing it with his boss, Mr Khan called SingTel the next day and terminated his bars' contract with it, to switch to StarHub TV. He said ShgTel has informed him that he will be given a full refund.
Kampong Cafe, at Pekin Street, is also making the switch from SingTel to StarHub. Its director, Mr Eddie Pek, said: "My customers have complained about the delay since the start of the World Cup." Four other restaurants and pubs along the street are screening the World Cup on StarHub feeds.
Mr Pek said he paid $3,090 to screen the matches on his 47-inch LCD TV.
When The New Paper was there on Tuesday night, the patrons were watching the match between Ivory Coast and Portugal.
Every attempt at goal in the scoreless draw was met by "oohs" and "aahs" from the outlet next door - at least five seconds before the attempt was seen on Kampong Cafe's TV screen. Mr Pek claims SingTel did not inform him of the delay beforehand.
Undergraduate Geraldine Tan, 21, who had watched for some time at Kampong Cafe, said: "It's really such a spoiler. It destroys all the anticipation and the magic of the moment."
But some bars are sticking with SingTel. Staff at Indochine's outlet at Wisma Atria noticed the delay, but said they have not received any complaints from patrons. Said Indochine Group's marketing manager, Mr Jason Glander: "Our guests are still able to follow and enjoy the game closely even though there is a slight delay, so we'll just be continuing our subscription with SingTel. "
SingTel's mio TV is delivered via Internet Protocol TV networks. A source familiar with the technology explained that the lag was due to delays in encoding the transmission signals.
A SingTel spokesman told The New Paper that it was aware some businesses have been affected by the delay in the broadcast. She said: "As a gesture of goodwill, and as 2010 Fifa World Cup partners, we have asked that StarHub provide the World Cup feed to these customers at no extra cost so that they will not be at any disadvantage during the World Cup season." Asked whether it had informed customers about the delay before they bought the package, SingTel did not comment.
