ST Telemedia Drives Sustainability Through Continuous Dialogue and Engagement

At ST Telemedia (STT), fostering a sustainable future is not just a goal, it is a core principle deeply woven into our purpose and mission. We believe in the power of collective action and have consistently supported initiatives that spark knowledge sharing and meaningful discourse to address the complex, interconnected issues facing our world. 

Last month, STT proudly sponsored Austcham Singapore’s Ministerial Dialogues series, featuring a thought-provoking discussion with Ms Grace Fu, Singapore's Minister for Sustainability and the Environment. Moderated by our President and Group CEO, Stephen Miller, the discussion provided a valuable platform to delve into the challenges and opportunities in climate transition, green financing, Singapore’s role, and digitalisation for sustainable development.

Engaging in such dialogues expands our perspective on sustainability developments at global, regional and national levels, and helps us to contribute to the broader agenda, influencing and driving positive change on a wider scale.

As part of our commitment to collective knowledge, we also participated in an Employee Communication Trends Report 2024 – Responsibility and Sustainability at The Workplace, showcasing best practices in ESG communication among leading business in Singapore. We shared the STT way of engaging employees in achieving sustainability goals. Recognising that sustainability cannot be achieved solely through top-down directives, we aim to foster a culture of ownership where each individual is empowered to contribute.

These recent efforts offer a glimpse into our multi-pronged approach to sustainability through responsible internal operations and employee engagement, as well as contribution to broader national efforts. The scale of climate change requires coordinated joint efforts. Through continuous dialogue, consistent engagement, and collective action, underpinned by a shared vision, we can create a rippling effect of positive change across our organisation and beyond.

StarHub once again took home the prestigious title of ‘World’s Most Sustainable Wireless Telecom Provider’ in the Corporate Knights Global 100 rankings, a strong testament of its efforts and commitment towards championing corporate sustainability. It was also named 'Singapore's most awarded network' in the Opensignal Singapore Mobile Network Experience Report. StarHub emerged winner in several categories including Video Experience, Live Video Experience, Games Experience, Download Speed Experience, and Consistent Quality. It was also named "Joint Winner" in the categories of 5G Video Experience, 5G Live Video Experience, Availability, and 5G Availability.

For the sixth time, U Mobile won the '2023 Company of the Year Award’ by Frost & Sullivan. The telco was recognised for its efforts in pursuing broader and higher-quality internet connectivity in the Malaysian mobile services industry, addressing the connectivity needs of customers and supporting the government’s initiative to improve network coverage and narrow the digital divide. Most recently, the telco launched exclusive postpaid and prepaid 5G plans in East Malaysia to boost access to digital connectivity in the region. The affordable plans ensure that more Malaysians are able to enjoy the benefits of reliable connectivity, which in turn helps to bridge the digital divide. Beyond the plans, the telco is also aiming to expand its population coverage in East Malaysia from the current 81% to 87% by end 2024.

ST Telemedia Global Data Centres (STT GDC) has issued S$450 million of Sustainability-Linked Perpetual (SLP) securities under the company’s S$1.5 billion multicurrency debut issuance programme, in keeping with its sustainability commitment. STT GDC’s debut perpetual securities offering is significant in that it marks several firsts in the industry – the first Singapore dollar denominated SLP, the first public benchmark SLP in Asia, as well as the first public perpetual by a pure play data centre globally. The SLP will fuel STT GDC’s global growth plans, particularly to strengthen its geographical reach, as well as meet future demands for purpose-built digital infrastructure.

VIRTUS Data Centres, a part of the STT GDC Group, announced plans for a new state-of-the-art, AI-ready data centre campus comprising four data centres that will be built close to the existing data centre hub of Slough, west of London. The strategic initiative is in direct response to the rapidly evolving needs of artificial intelligence (AI) and marks a significant leap forward in delivering AI-ready, mega-scale, high-capacity data infrastructure. Like the rest of the VIRTUS portfolio, the new development will feature 100% renewable energy.

VIRTUS was also recently honoured as the 'Most Outstanding Data Centre Provider' in the 2024 Global 100 awards. The awards recognise companies that demonstrate exceptional innovation and service excellence in the technology sector, and attests to VIRTUS’ commitment of being at the forefront of innovation and its relentless pursuit of excellence.

GDS Holdings achieved placing in the Bloomberg Green ESG 50 – Environmental list. This is the second consecutive year that GDS has secured its position as the sole data centre company to be recognised by Bloomberg Green, attesting to its proactive ESG practices, diverse energy strategies, low-carbon technological innovations, and dedication to green design and intelligent operations. The data centre most recently signed a 21-year Virtual Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Malaysian renewable energy firm Cenergi to procure solar power for its Nusajaya Tech Park (NTP) data center campus in Johor.

Bespin Global ended 2023 on a high note as it clinched the title of ‘2023 Global MSP Partner of the Year' at the AWS Partner Awards in November. The award honours the best performing Managed Service Provider (MSP) that has demonstrated excellence in providing end-to-end AWS solutions to customers at all stages of the cloud journey. It is also a strong testament of Bespin’s extensive experience and strong capabilities in providing innovative solutions for their clients on their digital transformation journey.

STT GDC Thailand has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with industrial power company B.Grimm Power to develop low-carbon energy solutions for the data centre sector to advance responsible energy usage and explore alternative grid-sourced energy. By addressing the primary challenge of high electricity consumption, which accounts for the most substantial operating cost in data centres, the collaboration has the potential to enhance Thailand's power and digital infrastructure competitiveness, facilitate the country’s readiness to adopt AI and content platforms, and support the country's ambition to be a prominent data centre hub in Southeast Asia. STT GDC Thailand also recently became one of five founding members of the Thailand Data Centre Council, the first-of-its-kind in Thailand, to boost digital infrastructure and promote the data centre sector as a mission-critical industry.

TeleChoice clinched a S$500 million Fourth Party Logistics (“4PL”) managed services deal with U Mobile, a key player in Malaysia's telecom industry. The significant three-year deal marks the company’s foray into the 4PL managed services market outside of Singapore. TeleChoice will be providing a comprehensive suite of solutions for supply chain management, including managing U Mobile’s extensive distribution network and customers at over 600 retail and channel touchpoints across Malaysia. This win, coupled with its major contract with global smart device manufacturer HONOR, reaffirms TeleChoice’s leading position as a full-fledged managed services and fulfilment partner of choice.

In advocating circularity and bridging the digital divide, employees from StarHub rolled up their sleeves to refurbish and upgrade over 30 pre-loved laptops for the underprivileged children of SHINE Children and Youth Services. With the laptops, the children were able to have greater access to technology and use them for various purposes including schoolwork. Apart from delivering the laptops, the team also drew on their expertise in technology to conduct a sharing on online safety for the children.