That is just a short term.
[Long post follows. You've been warned.
]
Their most recent half year financial report looks terrific to me. They also reported they're way ahead of their build out commitments, and those are at least medium-term.
They still have negligible Fibre Broadband market share.
Of course. They only recently entered that market, and it has less churn than mobile since most households and small businesses are on 24 month broadband contracts. Even so, they went from 26,000 to 46,000 subscribers in the 6 months ending January 31, 2026. Nothing wrong with that!
Unlike WhizComms and ViewQwest, fibre broadband service isn't a "pure play" for SIMBA. They already use the NGBN to support their mobile network, and they already have customer service, distribution channels, billing, legal, and other core competencies from their mobile business. There are some synergies they're enjoying. (In fairness WhizComms leans on Singtel for core networking, so they too can be both viable and small.)
They will need to invest in 5G RAN and 5G core network. Later 6G...
Yes, SIMBA's management knows this. They've built up cash reserves, and they continue to add to them with strong positive cash flow. However, I would caution that mobile consumers are often looking for
value. SIMBA isn't famous for having the fastest network in Singapore. Nonetheless, they grew their subscriber base by 13% in just 6 months (January 31, 2025, versus July 31, 2025, if I'm reading their report correctly). They need to continue delivering great value. That's not the same thing as having Singapore's first or biggest 6G network, for example.
SIMBA essentially invented the "roam like home" mobile plan, and that's working well for them. They have a little advantage over StarHub and M1 because they have a larger Australian sister company and presumably jointly share roaming agreements (and rates), leveraging that higher volume. (Singtel may also be able to do this.) The other 3 carriers made a lot of money on roaming, but SIMBA and eSIMs have helped reduce roaming costs for consumers — and significantly reduce that source of carrier profit.
SIMBA also invented the S$5 "senior gab line." Talk as long as you want with your SIMBA senior friend. Seniors tend to use much less data, and VoLTE is light, so you can fill your lower cost network up and still make money. And take market share. And seniors can still call the grandkids from Johor and Batam. Smart, very smart. The S in SIMBA means seniors.
Let's applaud SIMBA's management for their progress so far, OK? They've made a lot of good decisions, and Singapore's mobile consumers have been the primary beneficiaries. And here they are making a serious play for M1. Good for them.
This is also a bit rich if it's coming from StarHub. SIMBA built out a 5G network at least. M1 and StarHub didn't even do that much, not on their own. They share a single 5G network through their Antina joint venture. And let's not forget that StarHub lost their lucrative pipes a few years ago (the coaxial cable TV network) and is now well along their loss of traditional linear TV distribution ("cable TV") as the streaming services continue to gain market share. SIMBA doesn't have those headwinds to worry about. (It'd be hilarious if they offer a bargain TV package, wouldn't it? Free/bundled Premier League with a 24 month SIMBA broadband contract?
)
And here's another interesting factor: the 3GPP knows that mobile carriers struggled (and are struggling) with their 5G business cases. Quite simply, consumers haven't been throwing as many subscription dollars at the carriers for 5G as industry forecasts expected, and 5G wasn't/isn't as big a real-world improvement as forecast. So the 3GPP is trying hard to make upcoming 6G business cases much stronger, meaning that 6G will be a much smaller investment lift than 5G SA was/is. Assuming that's all true, that'll help SIMBA. Or it might even help StarHub assuming the SIMBA-M1 merger completes. Funny how that works.
Even the following Straits Times Article mentions the following. That "some" must be some "experts", right?
https://www.straitstimes.com/singap...pproval-for-simba-m1s-merger-down-to-the-wire
Expect some horse-trading in the final furlong as Simba races against the clock to finalise the deal,
which some said is existential for the telco.
"Some said" is not great journalism. Many editors would've questioned that part.
Simba, being the most poorly resourced where 5G spectrum is concerned, will go all out to complete the takeover mission it started.
Yes, SIMBA is obviously trying to gain spectrum through acquisition. That'd be the best way. There's also a second best way.
Its rivals will also actively engage in advocacy to hinder the approval process, which could go down to the wire.
Of course rivals would argue against the merger. Especially StarHub. "Some say" StarHub would feel the most competitive pressure with a SIMBA-M1 combination. (See what I did there?) I could make an argument why Singtel might want this merger to go through with conditions, or at least why Singtel would be neutral about it.
Keppel is obviously arguing in favor of the merger, and Keppel is an important company in Singapore.
With respect to Huawei infrastructure, I think there's some all around risk mitigation merit in having one (and only one) mobile network on Huawei equipment. Especially if at least "SOS mode" is mandated so that any cellular tower operated by any carrier is available for 995/999 calling to any phone that can reach it. And maybe that's one of the few deal closing conditions, that SIMBA-M1 (S1MBA?) must support "SOS mode" by Date X — work that they must do in the course of integrating their networks. (And Singtel and StarHub must also support "SOS mode" by Date X+12 months.)
[The Huawei argument is also a bit rich when Singtel is hosting CMLink and StarHub is hosting CUniq. And handing out lots of TP-Link routers. If there's a problem with Huawei, there's probably a bigger problem with CMLink, CUniq, and TP-Link.]
Beyond "SOS mode," I think it'd also be reasonable to mandate VoLTE/VoNR backup on other carriers when a network collapses. (Data backup we can quibble about.) VoLTE/VoNR would allow traditional voice calls, SMS, RCS (probably), and support the upcoming Cell Broadcast System for emergency alerts. These "any operating tower" backup modes would improve national security and resilience.
