Winners gain opportunity to access to over half a billion mobile customers across Singtel’s Group footprint
Chosen from over 700 submissions from Africa, Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, Socialgiver was named the grand winner of the 2nd Singtel Group-Samsung Regional Mobile App Challenge. In addition, OTTO was recognised as the Samsung Innovation Award winner.
The grand Singtel Group-Samsung winner, Socialgiver from Thailand caught the attention of the judges with its platform to connect consumers, businesses and charities to create meaningful social impact. Socialgiver offers consumers special rates from businesses that have excess capacity such as hotel with extra rooms or restaurants with extra dining spots. Part of the money earned is then donated to charity, while ensuring the business receives tax rebates.
The Samsung Innovation Award winner, OTTO from Australia, was chosen by Samsung as it demonstrated the greatest level of synergy with Samsung’s product portfolio.
Both teams will have the opportunity to work with the Singtel Group and Samsung to market their apps to Singtel Group’s footprint of over half a billion mobile customers across Asia, Australia and Africa. They will also enjoy prime product placement on Samsung content and services platforms.
“As income levels rise in the emerging markets and smartphones become ever more affordable, what was once a luxury good is now fast-becoming a basic necessity. The right mobile apps now have the power to create new economies and improve people’s lives by helping them save time, energy and money,” said Mr Mark Chong, Singtel’s CEO International. “The Singtel Group-Samsung Regional Mobile App Challenge is a platform to encourage talented app developers to grow their companies and bring their innovations to market more quickly. At the same time, we seek to help our customers gain access to a larger variety of apps – whether it is to automate their homes or manage their lifestyles.”
“At Samsung, we strive to enrich people’s lives through intuitive mobile devices and seamless user experiences with rich and meaningful content and services,” said Mr Yong Sung Jeon, President & CEO, Samsung Electronics South East Asia & Oceania. “Through the Singtel Group-Samsung Regional Mobile App Challenge, we hope to attract and identify the most talented developers, and help accelerate their development to roll out great content and services that can enhance consumers’ lifestyles, enabling truly connected living for everyone, everywhere.”
Jointly organised by the Singtel Group and Samsung, the challenge started in May 2015 with local competitions in Africa (Congo-Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Madagascar and Niger), Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand, where two finalists per region were chosen. These teams attended a two-day mentorship programme in Singapore in October and represented their countries in the final pitching session today, held at Jakarta’s Fairmont Hotel.
Judges include industry leaders such as Mr William Tanuwijaya, Co-founder & CEO of Tokopedia, as well as senior representatives from the Singtel Group and Samsung.
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About the Singtel Group
Singtel is Asia’s leading communications and ICT solutions group, providing a portfolio of services from next-generation communication, technology services to infotainment to both consumers and businesses. For consumers, Singtel delivers a complete and integrated suite of services, including mobile, broadband and TV. For businesses, Singtel offers a complementary array of workforce mobility solutions, data hosting, cloud, network infrastructure, analytics and cyber-security capabilities. The Group has presence in Asia, Australia and Africa and reaches over 575 million mobile customers in 25 countries. Its infrastructure and technology services for businesses spans 21 countries, with more than 200 direct points of presence in 160 cities.
Singtel is a strategic investor in the region’s most successful mobile operations. It fully owns Optus in Australia. Singtel also has a 23% stake in Thailand’s Advanced Info Service (AIS). It has a 32% effective interest in Airtel, India’s largest GSM operator, which has significant presence in Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Africa. Singtel has a 47% stake in Globe Telecom in the Philippines and a 35% stake in Indonesia’s largest mobile operator, Telkomsel. For more information, visit www.singtel.com and www.optus.com.au.
About AIS
Advanced Info Service Public Company Limited or AIS, is a Digital Service Provider with the largest customer base in Thailand. We aim to develop our potential in all our offerings, from infrastructure to Wireless Technology, Fixed Broadband and Digital Service in order to enhance the digital lifestyles of everyone in Thailand, increase our competitiveness and grow our country. Visit us at www.ais.co.th.
About Bharti Airtel
Bharti Airtel Limited is a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 3 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company’s product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services, mobile commerce, fixed line services, high speed DSL broadband, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G and 4G wireless services and mobile commerce. Bharti Airtel had over 339 million customers across its operations at the end of September 2015. To know more please visit, www.airtel.com.
About Globe
Globe Telecom is a leading full service telecommunications company in the Philippines, serving the needs of consumers and businesses across an entire suite of products and services including mobile, fixed, broadband, data connections, internet and managed services. Its principals are Ayala Corporation and Singtel who are acknowledged industry leaders in the country and in the region. For more information, visit globe.com.ph. Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/talk2Globe and Facebook: http://facebook.com/GlobePH.
About Telkomsel
Telkomsel is Indonesia’s largest mobile operator with more than 149 million subscribers. To serve customers all over Indonesia, including in remote areas, outer islands and border areas, Telkomsel has built more than 100,000 BTSs. Telkomsel has consistently implemented technology roadmap of 3G, HSDPA, HSPA +, as well as being the first mobile operator in Indonesia to commercially launched the 4G LTE services. To serve the needs of customers, Telkomsel operates a 24-hour call center and more than 400 service centers GraPARI across Indonesia. For more information, visit www.telkomsel.com.
