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HOME entertainment is the new battlefield for telcos. In a
historic first here, Singaporeans can access tens of thousands of
karaoke music videos in the comfort of their homes.
Instead of paying KTVlounge fees of up to $40 per person for a
three- to four-hour slot, karaoke fans will be able to pay a flat
fee of $10.70 a month for unlimited access to karaoke videos
through a StarHub service called KaraOK! from next Monday.
Industry observers say that this could pose a challenge to
SingTel's mio TV pay-TV platform, launched in 2007, as the
competition hots up in the home-entertainment arena.
With StarHub losing the rights to broadcast Barclays Premier
League football from this year, its karaoke service could be a
means to win back market share in home entertainment from
competitors, said Mr Kenneth Liew, a senior market analyst with
market-research firm IDC Asia-Pacific.
Mr Liew said: 'It's good to see the telcos getting creative to
come up with different services to provide more content to
customers.'
The KaraOK! service is available to StarHub TV customers who
have a HubStation or Hub-Station HD set-top box, which costs $8.56
a month to rent. Users can tune in to StarHub's Channel 888 to buy
a monthly subscription. There is also a 24-hour 'day pass' option
for $4.82.