Singtel has entered into a strategic partnership with satellite operator Inmarsat to enhance maritime cyber security using Trustwave’s Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution. Recall that Singtel recently acquired Trustwave to be its cyber security arm. According to Singtel, the UTM service provides a suite of cyber security measures, like advanced firewall, antivirus, intrusion prevention and web-filtering.

The telco also believes that the partnership with Inmarsat is important as it marks the first phase in rolling out the telco’s cyber security services with Inmarsat, starting with maritime. Maintain BUY with an unchanged S$3.96 fair value.

As before, Singtel remains our top pick among the three telcos, given its ability to grow beyond the traditional telco services into cyber security, big data analytics as well as digital marketing. We also expect it to be the least affected by the emergence of a fourth mobile operator in Singapore.

Source: OCBC Research - 7 Apr 2016