The telco giant has just signed a Memorandum of Understanding to cooperate and jointly use the group’s resources and brand presence to grow esports and gaming in South East Asia, Australia and India.

The telcos that signed were Airtel (India), AIS (Thailand), Globe (Philippines), Telkomsel (Indonesia), and Singtel. The group has pledged to scale esports content creation and distribution by leveraging on the 4Cs:

Content
By creating and supporting content creators of the gaming ecosystem.

Community
To grow and support the esports and gaming community.

Connectivity
By providing the much needed internet connection to enable playing of games, streaming, and more.

Commerce
To enable the community to purchase in-game items and currencies without the hassle of credit cards. Gamers can purchase via mobile credits or direct auto-billing.

(L – R): Mr Suvit Arayavilaipong, Head of Consumer Product Management, AIS / Mr Alistair Johnston, Director of Marketing, Telkomsel / Mr Nikko Acosta, Senior Vice President for Content Business Group, Globe / Mr Soon Sze Meng, Vice President of Business International, Singtel / Mr Madhur Bhagat, Head of Strategy and Alliances, Airtel.

So why would a giant telco group invest so much into esports?

1. Perfect Fit

“Gaming is a part of a digital world without borders, where fast network speeds, connectivity and local market knowledge are critical. It is a natural and perfect fit for Singtel and our partners.” – Mr Arthur Lang, CEO of Singtel’s International Group.

He adds that the group is committed to better serve the gamers within their networks, and in the region. They also hope to play a major regional role as an enabler of esports, to collectively grow the gaming ecosystem and give gamers the support and recognition they deserve.

2. Growing Figures
200 million customers across the group play games on a regular basis, and this figure is expected to reach 700 million by 2021.

This was announced at the Singtel Group’s inaugural multi-title and regional esports league, PVP Esports Championship that was held in Singapore on 5 – 7 October, 2018.

We had a chance to speak to Mr Arthur Lang, so watch out for our next episode of Geek-A-Byte!

On behalf of MyGameOn and 7Edition, we look forward to seeing great things from this MoU and we wish Singtel Group all the best!

Watch this space for more updates!