In the course of a discussion on start-ups and our dismal record more or less someone in the group brought up this chap, Malcolm Rodrigues of My Republic. The comment was like Fernandes who took a taxi years ago from the Changi Airport to plead with the authorities to allow landing rights for Air Asia. He was turned down and took a taxi back. And now look where Fernandes is .
Malcolm appears to be in the same spot. Despite in the Singapore market for years, he lost out for the 4th license to an Australian company which by the way is owned by a former Malaysian Chinese. It is also interesting that Malcolm is getting support from French and foreign funds with no support from locals.
The comment I thought was very interesting. Lets see where Malcolm will be in 10 years time.
MyRepublic to launch mobile services in Singapore in Q1 next year: CEO
The Internet service provider secured S$70 million in new funds from Makara Capital, which will be used in part to develop its cloud-based mobility platform.
By Kevin Kwang @KevinKwangCNA
22 Nov 2017 03:45PM (Updated: 22 Nov 2017 04:50PM)
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SINGAPORE: Internet service provider MyRepublic on Wednesday (Nov 22) announced it secured S$70 million in funds from Makara Capital, which it will use to “accelerate” plans to launch mobile services, including in Singapore, “next year”.
MyRepublic CEO Malcolm Rodrigues said during a press briefing announcing the investment that it was initially looking to launch mobiles services in Singapore, via a mobile virtual networking operator (MVNO) model in partnership with a local telco.
But the thinking “shifted” internally, and it now plans to launch mobile services in all four markets it is currently in - Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand - instead of a single market, he said.
As a result, Mr Rodrigues added, plans to launch its mobile services in Singapore will be held over to the first quarter of next year, while Australia and Indonesia will also have access to these services by the middle of next year.
The company had previously said it would launch mobile services in Singapore later this year, possibly by October.
“We’re testing the platform right now ... and we’ll look to be launching soon,” Mr Rodrigues said.
Asked about the mobile plans consumers can expect, the CEO said: “It’s going to be really good ... we plan to be really competitive.” He declined to give away more details, saying that these will be revealed in the coming months.
“We don’t compete in price, we compete on value,” he said of the company's guiding principle, adding that “we know TPG is coming”. TPG won the fourth telco licence over MyRepublic last December.
Mr Rodrigues also said the new funds will go towards building up its consumer and enterprise markets, as well as customer service.
It will also look to expand its regional footprint beyond the four markets it is currently in. The possible markets include Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, and it hopes to enter them “in five years”, the company said.
The S$70 million funding decision was supported by IP ValueLab’s evaluation of MyRepublic’s “strong” intellectual property portfolio, a joint press release said. IP ValueLab is the enterprise engagement arm of the Intellectual Property of Singapore.
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...bile-services-in-singapore-in-q1-next-9428856
Malcolm appears to be in the same spot. Despite in the Singapore market for years, he lost out for the 4th license to an Australian company which by the way is owned by a former Malaysian Chinese. It is also interesting that Malcolm is getting support from French and foreign funds with no support from locals.
The comment I thought was very interesting. Lets see where Malcolm will be in 10 years time.
MyRepublic to launch mobile services in Singapore in Q1 next year: CEO
The Internet service provider secured S$70 million in new funds from Makara Capital, which will be used in part to develop its cloud-based mobility platform.
By Kevin Kwang @KevinKwangCNA
22 Nov 2017 03:45PM (Updated: 22 Nov 2017 04:50PM)
Bookmark
SINGAPORE: Internet service provider MyRepublic on Wednesday (Nov 22) announced it secured S$70 million in funds from Makara Capital, which it will use to “accelerate” plans to launch mobile services, including in Singapore, “next year”.
MyRepublic CEO Malcolm Rodrigues said during a press briefing announcing the investment that it was initially looking to launch mobiles services in Singapore, via a mobile virtual networking operator (MVNO) model in partnership with a local telco.
But the thinking “shifted” internally, and it now plans to launch mobile services in all four markets it is currently in - Singapore, Australia, Indonesia and New Zealand - instead of a single market, he said.
As a result, Mr Rodrigues added, plans to launch its mobile services in Singapore will be held over to the first quarter of next year, while Australia and Indonesia will also have access to these services by the middle of next year.
The company had previously said it would launch mobile services in Singapore later this year, possibly by October.
“We’re testing the platform right now ... and we’ll look to be launching soon,” Mr Rodrigues said.
Asked about the mobile plans consumers can expect, the CEO said: “It’s going to be really good ... we plan to be really competitive.” He declined to give away more details, saying that these will be revealed in the coming months.
“We don’t compete in price, we compete on value,” he said of the company's guiding principle, adding that “we know TPG is coming”. TPG won the fourth telco licence over MyRepublic last December.
Mr Rodrigues also said the new funds will go towards building up its consumer and enterprise markets, as well as customer service.
It will also look to expand its regional footprint beyond the four markets it is currently in. The possible markets include Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Sri Lanka, and it hopes to enter them “in five years”, the company said.
The S$70 million funding decision was supported by IP ValueLab’s evaluation of MyRepublic’s “strong” intellectual property portfolio, a joint press release said. IP ValueLab is the enterprise engagement arm of the Intellectual Property of Singapore.
Read more at http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news...bile-services-in-singapore-in-q1-next-9428856
