More than S$350 million in new contracts signed

Singapore, 4 December 2002 - Singapore Telecommunications Ltd (SingTel) said today that it continues to win new contracts from corporate customers despite poor economic conditions and weak business confidence in the region.

Recent wins by SingTel's global account management teams in Singapore, Australia and elsewhere in the Asia Pacific have raised the value of new long term contracts signed with multinational customers, since April this year, to more than S$350 million.

Mr Lim Chuan Poh, SingTel's Executive Vice President (Corporate Business), said: "Our success can be attributed to a number of factors. These include our competitive rates, our expertise and knowledge of the industry, and our infrastructure which provides extensive reach in Asia. Our stable financial position has also been a source of comfort to customers who want to be assured of business continuity."

SingTel's global offices in Hong Kong, India, Japan and Taiwan have registered new sales from nearly 20 companies who have decided to migrate their networks from troubled carriers to SingTel.

In Australia, wholly-owned subsidiary SingTel Optus has successfully leveraged on SingTel's regional infrastructure and its wide range of corporate data services. Optus Business has seen a significant increase in the value of new contracts signed. Recent successes include major corporations such as Citigroup, Nokia, Reuters and Marsh, a leading risk and insurance service firm.

In Singapore, SingTel has inked deals to provide end-to-end connectivity in the Asia Pacific to multinationals like Bax Global Asia, Halliburton, Societe Generale, Visa and a leading car manufacturer in Japan.

Tapping potential in new markets

Mr Lim said: "This is a challenging time for the telecommunications industry. However, despite the turmoil that many carriers face, we continue to see good growth potential in markets where we traditionally have not been a major player. We have identified four key areas of growth - Australia, North Asia, India and the United States." SingTel's strategies in these markets are:

• Australia - exploit the combined strength of SingTel and Optus to tap the corporate data market and continue to drive revenue growth for international data services.
• North Asia - continue to develop Hong Kong and Japan as twin hubs and gear up capabilities and resources to meet the growing demand for connectivity into China.
• India - ride on the i2i cable network connecting India and Singapore to offer competitive data services and meet the demand for bandwidth from India to the rest of Asia and the United States.
• United States - expand presence by setting up new offices and deploying new infrastructure nodes in Chicago and Houston and by beefing up the US sales and marketing team.

SingTel will enhance its competitiveness by continuing to upgrade its network connectivity and offering new services. To meet growing market demand, SingTel recently launched enhanced IP-VPN (Internet Protocol-Virtual Private Network) services which enable network managers to prioritise traffic and utilise bandwidth more efficiently. As a result, companies do not need to subscribe to extra bandwidth just to ensure that critical traffic gets successfully delivered.

About SingTel
SingTel is Asia's leading communications company with a comprehensive portfolio of services that include voice and data services over fixed, wireless and Internet platforms. Serving both the corporate and residential markets, SingTel is committed to bringing the best of global communications to its customers in the Asia Pacific and beyond.

SingTel has extensive interests in submarine cable and satellite systems, including its co-owned ST-1 satellite and the pan-Asian C2C cable network. Its infrastructure development strategy is to ensure that its networks remain modern and efficient, and continue to meet the needs of its customers.

The SingTel Group has expanded into overseas markets, with investments in many countries and territories. In Australia, its wholly owned subsidiary, SingTel Optus is a leader in integrated communications - serving more than five million customers. The Group's major investments include Advanced Info Service of Thailand, the Bharti Telecom Group of India, Globe Telecom of the Philippines and Telkomsel of Indonesia.

SingTel has been recognised Best Asian Telecom Operator by industry publication, TelecomAsia, for five consecutive years since 1998. The Group's turnover for the year ended 31 March 2002 was S$7.34 billion (US$4.02 billion). More information can be found at www.singtel.com.

Media contact:
Boon Chong Chia
Corporate Affairs
Optus
Phone: 02 9342 5030

Kim Leng Foo (Ms)
Corporate Communications
SingTel
Phone: +65 6838 2011