Ep 94 – Are you ready for Singtel?

This week’s guest

View Linkedin profile

Anna Yip

CEO of Business Development & Deputy CEO Singtel Singapore Singtel

Singtel is a leading mobile network operator (MNO) in the Asia-Pacific region with a reputation for innovation. Its pioneering culture is one of the reasons why Anna Yip, the operator’s CEO of business development and deputy CEO for Singapore, is constantly on the lookout for creative ways to build new revenue streams, customer satisfaction, and subscriber loyalty. 

Anna recently toured the United States to scope out happenings in the industry, and we caught up for an in-person conversation in… (wait for it)… New York City! Listen now to hear:

• How Singtel is leveraging its 5G Standalone network to boost revenue [03:45];
• Why it’s taking part in a Global Telco AI Alliance with other operators to develop an industry-specific large language model (LLM) [08:55];
• Its plans for a pioneering cross-border rewards program in partnership with seven other telcos, [11:23]; and 
• What telcos can learn from Taylor Swift’s incredible work ethic and success [14:49].

Links and resources

• Learn more about Singtel.
• Read about the Global Telco AI Alliance announced at MWC24. Singtel, Deutsche Telekom, e& Group, SoftBank and SK Telecom have joined forces to develop an industry-specific LLM. The operators shared their vision for the project at last week’s DTW24 – Ignite. 
• Singtel is also collaborating with other AsiaPac telcos on a cross-border telco rewards programme that offer perks to globe-trotting customers. 
• Check out Anna’s LinkedIn post from the opening night of Taylor Swift’s concerts in Singapore. (Seamless photo sharing compliments of the Singtel 5G Express Pass!)
• Then check out my post on Instagram from Taylor’s concert in Houston, Texas. The Reputation album was calling my name!
• Check out this episode on our YouTube channel.
• You can find the transcript for the episode here.

Wanna talk public cloud? Telco execs, set up a meeting with our team to learn how to tap the immense business value it can bring.

Guest bio

Anna Yip is a senior business leader with more than a decade of experience leading and scaling business in the technology sector. She has built a track record of driving ‘intrapreneurship’ and successfully building new businesses across markets. A committed people leader, Anna is passionate about mentoring young talent and supporting more women in tech.

Currently, Anna serves as the Deputy CEO Singapore and CEO of Business Development for Singtel. Under her leadership, Singtel Singapore became one of the first markets to successfully roll out 5G SA nationwide, with robust migration of customers to the latest mobile technology. Singtel continues to play an instrumental role in empowering people-centric digital lifestyles as Singapore advances as a smart nation. She has also been appointed a Board of Commissioner member of Telkomsel in Indonesia since June 1, 2021.

Before joining Singtel, Anna was the CEO and Executive Director of Smartone, a leading telecommunications company headquartered in Hong Kong. Prior to her role at Smartone, Anna headed up Mastercard’s operations in Hong Kong and Macau. Anna holds a DPhil (PhD) from University of Oxford and a First-Class Honours degree in Business Administration from the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Follow DR

• Have an idea for a Telco in 20 podcast guest or topic? Send it in!
• Want to sponsor a podcast? Let us know
• Follow Telco in 20 on X @TelcoIn20
• Follow DR on X @TelcoDR

The Telco in 20 podcast won 2024 and 2022 Hermes Awards, 2023 and 2022 MarComm Awards, and was recognized as a TeckNexus Top 12 Telco and Tech Podcast, Forrester Top 100 Channel Podcast and Feedspot Top 10 Telecom Podcast. If you enjoy the podcast, would you leave us a short review? It takes you seconds to do in your app and it really makes a difference in helping to convince hard-to-get guests. And I love reading your feedback and reviews!

Podcast credits

• Executive Producer and Host: Danielle Rios Royston, TelcoDR
• Senior Producer: Lindsay Grubb, TillCo Media
• Senior Editor/Brand Manager: Alisa Jenkins, Springboard Marketing
• Audio Editor: Andrew Condell
• Supervising Producer: Amanda Avery
• Associate Producer: Kriselda Dionisio
• Music: Dyami Wilson

Most popular podcasts

Follow now

Get my FREE newsletter, delivered every two weeks, with curated content to help telco execs across the globe move to the public cloud.

"*" indicates required fields

Business email*

Phone

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.