LOCAL telecom companies are bundling services and giving out freebies in a bid to lock up customers ahead of what could be the industry's biggest shake-up in years.

On Tuesday, the Government unveiled its tenders for a partially-subsidised, ultra-fast broadband network aimed at opening up the market to more companies.

Analysts believe the move could break up the current SingTel-StarHub duopoly that has dominated the Internet game here for years.

Faced with a duel on home turf, local telcos have been digging in, and fighting back.

Their strategy: bundle a 'triple-play' of phone calls, broadband and TV services, so users won't be so easily swayed by new offers, say experts.

StarHub, for example, is now giving free LCD TV sets to people who sign up for its cellphone, broadband and pay-TV services.

Subscribers also get monthly discounts for each service that range from 5 to 15 per cent.

Rival SingTel has a similar ploy. Subscribers of its Generation mio suite of fixed line, cellphone and broadband services can save up to 20 per cent each month.

They also get another 5 per cent off pay-TV programmes.

Senior analyst Marc Einstein from consultancy firm Pyramid Research, said the telcos will only get more aggressive in bundling their services and giving freebies to lock in users.

While this benefits consumers in the short term, it may also discourage new market entrants that would have offered more choices in the long term, he noted.

'Broadband penetration is already high, so there's a question of how many more competitors the market can afford,' he said.

Read the full story in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.