It took more than two years to lay the ground work, but a new strategy and management team has set the scene for this business-to-customer multimedia service provider to become a household name in Cambodia’s competitive telecommunications sector.

Formerly known as SuperNet, the network and digital TV firm has recently rebranded as SingMeng Telemedia to signify the company’s expansion and new services offerings in Cambodia.

Ahead of the Singapore-headquartered company’s official launch and grand ceremony next week to publicly announce its new business model, SingMeng has ambitions to become a premium broadband network and multimedia service provider in Cambodia.

Converging high speed broadband, digital terrestrial television (DTT), over-the-top television (OTT TV), and other telecommunications services, SingMeng is aiming to change the game when it comes to Cambodia’s fast-growing and ever-changing media and telecommunications landscape.

Yuhong Niu, CEO of parent company SingMeng Telemedia Group, took the helm of the company in January this year following consolidation activity by the group. Prior to her current position, Niu acted as CEO at Southeast Asia telecom infrastructure provider, HyalRoute Communication Group and, before that, as head of North and South East Asia Regional Unit at Alcatel-Lucent which formally merged with mobile giant Nokia earlier this year.

Niu, together with SingMeng’s newly appointed management team, will bring a fresh, energetic and strategic approach to Cambodia’s emerging digital market. The company has packaged its three different business units – which consist of high speed Internet, TV, and new media to cater to customer demands.

Niu said that SingMeng’s vision is to provide high quality services to all of its customers in Cambodia, be it in regional or urban areas, and deliver a one-stop-shop suite of multimedia services.

“We feel very positive and passionate about what we are going to achieve in Cambodia,” Niu said. “I see a lot of opportunities in this market and I’m confident that we have great people at this company who will help us achieve meaningful progress.”

SingMeng has spent the past two years building up its network offering in Cambodia and, as a result, now possesses high-quality, pure fibre optic network which spans about 95 per cent of the Kingdom.

“I think it’s a fantastic network,” Niu said. “We are now on our way to connect the fibres to the homes so that it can provide high-speed Internet to our clients.”

Employing a similar strategy to Australia’s National Broadband Network, which is purpose-built to deliver faster broadband speeds, Niu described SingMeng’s state-of-the-art broadband technology and infrastructure as “the foundation of everything we are doing”.

“It gives a completely different customer experience as it is all fibre [not copper], so this should set the benchmark to enable Cambodia to shift into a fully digital life.”

“The majority of the Cambodian population is still using ADSL. This is outdated technology.”

However, the company’s leading edge remains in its DTT and exclusive OTT TV licensing. SingMeng is currently the only operator in Cambodia to offer digital wireless TV services. The Internet-based technology consists of over 100 digital and HD programs that also offer an interactive experience for the end-user.

Alice Xie, president of Cambodian SingMeng Telemedia, said the company currently has coverage in place for 70 per cent of the country and is continually working on expanding this reach.

“This is the only DTT in Cambodia that can provide high quality TV services to the customer. More importantly, people in the rural areas can also benefit from these services.”

“We are the only provider that can offer high speed broadband internet, TV service and mobile TV apps to the consumer for an interactive experience so I think that is very unique,” Alice added.

More importantly, SingMeng will be able to provide an enhanced user experience in a one-stop-shop format to its customers.

“It’s not just about TV but also about value-added services that we are targeting, such as supporting education, tourism, culture and religion that we hope will benefit the public,” Niu said.

“We are aiming to build a lot of new applications on top of our OTT TV services.”

SingMeng is also hoping to assist the Cambodian government in its bid to go fully digital within four years, by 2020. In collaboration with the government, the master plan involves converting customers from analogue to digital subscriptions, where SingMeng is entirely capable of providing an array of digital service offerings.

“We think it is a great initiative and we want to follow the action of the government,” Niu said. “Fortunately, our network set up is going to align with this plan. We are ready for this.”

SingMeng is keen to be collaborative in what can sometimes be a highly competitive market, with the company currently in talks to team up with local companies.

“For example, we will collaborate with mobile operators and they can provide our mobile TV services to serve their customers. We can also work with other Internet service providers that don’t have the OTT TV service as well. We’d like to contribute to a healthy ICT ecosystem by creating a win-win environment for everybody.”

Furthermore, after noticing that a lot of content currently streamed on Cambodia TV is exported, the company is working to produce and deliver dedicated local channels that will involve partnering up with a “large entertainment company”.

SingMeng is anticipating a positive reception at its rebranding and product launch, to be held at the Sofitel in Phnom Penh, from 2pm to 5:30pm on March 30. The event will be attended by government officials, partners, and VIP clients.