ITV

Category: Multi System Operators

  • GTPL Hathway share up as FII / FPI limit raised to 49 pc

    GTPL Hathway share up as FII / FPI limit raised to 49 pc

    MUMBAI: The share price of GTPL Hathway, a leading regional multi-system operator (MSO) which offers cable television and broadband services, rose 2.60 per cent to Rs 132 at 11:05am on the BSE after the central bank of India — RBI — raised foreign investment limit to 49 per cent from 24 per cent, earlier.

    The shares were listed on the stock exchanges on 4 July 2017, debuting on a flat note at Rs 170 compared with the IPO price of Rs 170. On a yearly basis, the price of GTPL Hathway has lost 23.46 per cent.

    The stock of GTPL Hathway, which recently pocketed Rs 480-mn Gujarat govt contracts, had touched a high of Rs 134 and a low of Rs 130.50 during the day. It was on 11 July that the stock climbed a record high of Rs 190.30 and hit a record low of Rs 126.60 on 24 August 2017.

    The stock had underperformed the market in the past month till 7 September 2017, falling 10.57 per cent when compared with 0.42 per cent overall decline in the Sensex.

    The Reserve Bank notified after market hours on 7 August 2017 that the Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs)/Foreign Portfolios Investors (FPIs) investment limit under Portfolio Investment Scheme in GTPL Hathway has increased to 49 per cent of its paid-up capital.

    Recently, GTPL Hathway was awarded a work order by Gujarat Informatics Limited an estimated sum of Rs. 290 million for a five-year contract.  Additionally, it was awarded with a work order by the home department, government of Gujarat, worth Rs 190 million.

    ALSO READ :

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  • MIB tells MSOs: Report on cable ops and subs grievance redressal mechanism

    MIB tells MSOs: Report on cable ops and subs grievance redressal mechanism

    NEW DELHI: All multi-system operators have been asked to send to the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) details of the grievance redressal mechanism drawn up by them to hear complaints of cable operators and subscribers.

    Pointing out that this is mandatory under Rule 12(2) of the Cable Television Networks Rules 1994 for every cable operator and multi-system operator, the ministry has sought a report by 25 September 2017 from all MSOs.

    At the outset, the note says that during the implementation of Digital Addressable System (DAS) which became operational from 1 April this year, a large number of complaints have been received on the following issues:

    i)                   Non-issuance of payment receipts/computer bills,

    ii)                Abrupt stoppage of services and/or channels by cable operators without any notice,

    iii)              No fixed price of STBs- different operators charge different rates,

    iv)              Non-filling up of CAF,

    v)                 Non-operationalisation of toll-free number for redressal of consumer grievances,

    vi)              Non-creation of web-site for logging of complaints

    vii)            Not providing a-la-carte choice of channels

    viii)         Nodal officer name not notified

    Rule 12(2) says MSOs and LCOs “shall devise a mechanism for grievance redressal of subscribers in respect of the services offered by them in such manner as may be specified by the Authority and inform the details thereof to the subscribers through the cable service or the website or any other appropriate means and such information shall also include the address and telephone number where a subscriber can file a complaint and the time period within which grievances are to be addressed, the manner of communication of the redressal to a subscriber and the feedback thereon from the subscriber.”

    It added that under the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India regulations on Consumers Complaint Redressal (Digital Addressable Cable TV Systems) Regulations 2012 dated 14 May 2012, every MSO and the linked LCOs should have to:

    i)      establish a ‘web-based complaint monitoring system’ to enable the consumers to monitor the status of their complaints

    ii)    establish a complaint centre in his service area and publicise the toll-free Consumer Care Number.

    iii)  appoint or designate one or more Nodal Officers in every state in which it is providing its service.

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  • Ortel elevates Satyanaryan Jena as CFO as Manoj Kumar Patra resigns

    Ortel elevates Satyanaryan Jena as CFO as Manoj Kumar Patra resigns

    MUMBAI: Ortel Communication has made an internal promotion as its chief financial officer Manoj Kumar Patra has resigned.

    The board of directors has informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that the company has  accepted  his  resignation and  relieved  him  of  his  responsibilities effective from close of business hours on 5 September, 2017. The board has also informed the BSE that the company has appointed Satyanaryan Jena as the CFO effective from 5 September.

    Patra has been associated with Ortel for more than eight years. He joined Ortel as GM -finance and accounts in November 2008. Prior to this, he was working with Reliance Fresh as the commercial head for more than a year.

    Jena has been associated with the company since 12 November, 2015. He was  previously associated   with  OM  Khejriwal,  CA, lspat Alloys,   Indian Metals and Ferro   Alloys and  Qatar Petroleum.

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  • Lower carriage and internet subs fees pull down Ortel numbers in first quarter

    Lower carriage and internet subs fees pull down Ortel numbers in first quarter

    BENGALURU: A forty four percent year-on-year (y-o-y) decline in carriage fees and a thirty five percent y-o-y  decline in internet subscription fees for the quarter ended 30 June 2017 (Q1-18, current quarter, first quarter of fiscal 2018) resulted in decline of some major numbers for Ortel Communications Limited (Ortel). The company has reported a net loss of Rs 29 million in Q1-18 as compared to a profit after tax of Rs 1 million in Q1-17.

    Ortel reported carriage fees of Rs 62 million for Q1-18 as compared to Rs 89 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Despite a 4.5 percent increase in cable subscription fees, the company’s Total cable TV services revenue declined 5.5 percent in the current quarter to Rs 371 million as compared to Rs 384 million in Q1-17. Ortel reported cable subscription fees of Rs 288 million as compared to Rs 277 million in the corresponding year ago quarter. Connection fees rose to Rs 21 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2018 as compared to Rs 18 million in Q1-17.

    Ortel reported internet subscription revenue on lower Average Revenue per user at Rs 57 million for Q1-18 as compared to Rs 88 million in Q1-17. Internet connection fees declined to Rs 4 million in the current quarter as compared to Rs 7 million in Q1-17. Overall broadband revenue declined 35.8 percent y-o-y in Q1-18 to Rs 61 million as compared to Rs 95 million in Q1-17.

    Coupled with a 13.8 percent decline in Ortel’s Infrastructure and Leasing segment revenue, the company’s total operating revenue declined 8.6 percent y-o-y in the current quarter to Rs 468 million from Rs 512 million.

    Subscription number, ARPU

    The company’s cable TV and internet subscriber bases declined quarter-over-quarter (q-o-q).  Ortel’s cable TV subscriber base in Q1-18 was 747,528 in Q1-18 as compared to 750,471. Broadband subscriber base in the current quarter declined to 70,273 from 73,087. Cable TV ARPU for the current quarter declined by Rs 1 to Rs 137 from Rs 138 in the immediate trailing quarter. In Q1-17, the company has reported a much higher Cable TV ARPU at Rs 157. Broadband ARPU in Q1-18 was substantially lower at Rs 267 as compared to Rs 319 in the immediate trailing quarter and Rs 401 in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Major Expense heads

    Ortel’s total expenses in the current quarter declined 7.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 359 million from Rs 389 million. Programming cost increased to Rs 115 million in Q1-18 as compared to Rs 100 million in Q1-17.Broadband bandwidth cost increased to Rs 25 million from Rs 22 million. Digital bandwidth cost increased to Rs 15 million from Rs 13 million. Employee benefits expense declined to Rs 54 million from Rs 62 million. Finance costs increased to Rs 71 million from Rs 64 million. Other expenses in the current quarter declined to Rs 114 million from Rs 135 million in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Company speak

    Ortel managing director and CEO Bibu Prasad Rath said, “This has been a challenging period for the Company as intense competition in our core markets and new subscriber integration issues in new markets  continued to impact our performance. The management team is working towards improving our position and expect to deliver better results by the end of this fiscal year. While we are evaluating fund raise possibilities to bridge our short-term capital requirement, our focus in FY18 would be to consolidate the operations and improve the operational matrix which would result in notable cash flow generation. Overall, we remain confident of the strength of fully controlling the ‘last mile’ network and the B2C business model, which we believe will enable us to tide over this difficult period.”

  • Indian subsidiary of Broadsoft blamed in Time Warner Cable data breach (updated)

    Indian subsidiary of Broadsoft blamed in Time Warner Cable data breach (updated)

    MUMBAI: Weeks after the ‘Game of Thrones’ episode leaks admitted by an Indian technology company — a Star India partner, another data leak is being blamed on the India subsidiary of Broadsoft.

    Broadsoft India’s Bengaluru-based head of support Jatin Shivalaya chose not to comment when Indiantelevision.com sought their version of the story. However, BroadSoft later wrote to Indiantelevision.com from Melbourne (Australia) stating: “BroadSoft was notified that a third-party cloud storage site containing internal BroadSoft documentation and end-user customer data was exposed to public internet. The end-user customer data exposed did not include bank or credit card information or social security numbers. We immediately re-secure d the information. BroadSoft core IT and cloud unified communication infrastructures were not exposed or compromised in this incident.”

    Charter Communications, which purchased Time Warner Cable renaming it Spectrum, acknowledged last Friday that it discovered a data breach that made the private information of some of its customers available to outsiders. Those affected were Time Warner Cable customers who mainly used the My TWC app, and the company is advising the app users to change passwords, the Hollywood Reporter said.

    A Charter representative refused to elaborate, but Gizmodo, a part of Gawker Media having brands such as Deadspin and Lifehacker, which is run in India by Times Internet, says the breach originated in India at BroadSoft, a communications company whose partners included Time Warner Cable.

    Gizmodo reported that around four million records from 2010 to 2017 were exposed, though that does not mean that it involved four million individual customers. The breached files, it said, were discovered last week by Kromtech Security while its researchers were investigating an unrelated breach at World Wrestling Entertainment. Kromtech said it downloaded the contents of the publicly accessible BroadSoft data “for verification purposes”.

    CCTV footage, which was presumably of BroadSoft’s workers in Bengaluru, (India), where the breach is believed to have originated, was also discovered on the Amazon bucket. The BroadSoft data, Kromtech said, as improperly configured to allow public access in AWS,

    The S3 buckets were accidentally configured to allow public access, potentially allowing anyone with the URL to access and download the sensitive data. It shows that companies are still making rookie mistakes when handling data.

    Not all TWC records had data on a unique customer. However, the cache size made it difficult for the researchers to pinpoint the exact number of affected persons. There were also some internal company records like credentials for external systems, internal emails, and SQL database dumps.

    BroadSoft later told Gizmodo that it locked down its Amazon data (Charter says it was taken down) and has not seen evidence that intruders accessed the information.

  • GTPL Hathway pockets Rs 480-mn Gujarat govt contracts

    GTPL Hathway pockets Rs 480-mn Gujarat govt contracts

    MUMBAI: GTPL Broadband Private Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of GTPL Hathway Limited, has been awarded a work order by Gujarat Informatics Limited an estimated sum of Rs. 290 million for a five-year contract.

    The scope of the order is for providing Wi-Fi services on Service / Rental Module including (Design, Built, and Operations & Management) for state-wide public Wi-Fi hotspot’s under Gujarat State Urban Area Network (GSUAN).

    Additionally, GTPL Hathway has been awarded with a work order by the home department, government of Gujarat, worth Rs 190 million. The order, for a period of five years, was received for supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of internet bandwidth for various offices of Home Department, government of Gujarat across the state.

    GTPL Hathway Ltd, formerly known as GTPL Hathway Pvt. Ltd., provides digital cable television and broadband services. It also provides channels across various genres and offers approximately 30 high-definition (HD) channels.

    ALSO READ :

    Restructuring brings Hathway to black in first quarter

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  • SITI Networks’ transformation begins with slashing of bloated workforce

    SITI Networks’ transformation begins with slashing of bloated workforce

    MUMBAI: The breeze of change is being felt at the Essel Group-owned SITI Networks. Work is on to claw the 13-million subscriber base strong MSO – which has estimated accumulated losses of Rs 650-odd million – back to profitability. And, the Essel group chairman Subhash Chandra is relying on the chief transformation officer Rajesh Sethi to do the job.

    According to an industry observer: “All the major publicly-listed MSOs have to spruce up and streamline their operations keeping in mind the digitisation of cable TV.  Almost all the companies’ financials are in a bit of a mess. Some more, some less. Siti Networks is no different. Hence, Sethi has his task cut out for him.”

    The SITI Networks scrip  – like other listed cable TV companies – has been languishing at its lowest – somewhere in the Rs 22-25 range, after reaching a 52 week high of Rs 41.35, and in the Rs 30 range for the past two years.

    Amongst the first things Sethi decided to do after agreeing to take up Subash Chandra’s challenge is making presentations to investors overseas, admitting that mistakes have happened in the past, assuring them that  he is seeking  to rectify them with the backing of the promoters.

    “Subhashji is very passionate about TV distribution and he wants to really get the company on track,” says Sethi.

    Sethi has earned his stripes by building Ten Sports as a brand (before the Goel family finally sold its sports TV channel network to Sony earlier this year), and later  looking after the distribution of the Zee group channels. He was then asked to take over SITI Networks’ management  as CEO & ED but he preferred the title of chief transformation officer.

    Sethi has been instrumental in roping back former Airtel hand Sanjay Berry as chief financial officer, who rejoined the company on 1 September. Berry had joined SITI Networks  for a brief stint of three months earlier this year.

    “We are committed to getting things in order,” says Sethi. “It will take time, but we will do it. People, processes and product are what we are focusing on.”

    Sethi has spent the past few months reviewing SITI Networks’ operations. And  his discovery was that the company had a bloated workforce: 3,500 employees, and 500 field offices – 22 in Delhi alone.

    Hence, last week, he wielded the axe on headcount. Close to 670 employees were issued pink slips, with three months severance pay.  Almost 100 of those asked to go were in administration. “Cost-cutting is imperative,” says Sethi. “These were people who were hired over the years, and they were there.”

    Sethi points out that he has retained most of the sales force of SITI Network. “We have to keep the money coming in,” he says, with a smile.

    What next? “Get the basics of business right. And, take up initiatives that bring in revenue,” he says.

    That should give  a lot more confidence to SITI Networks’ shareholders and investors.

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  • Arasu ‘monopolistic practices’ decried by LCOs, TN body seeks GST exemption

    Arasu ‘monopolistic practices’ decried by LCOs, TN body seeks GST exemption

    MUMBAI: A Tamil Nadu federation of unions to which hundreds of cable operators owe allegiance has alleged that the Arasu MSO has been following  ‘monopolistic practices’ and acting against the welfare of its members.

    It also made a series of demands from the state and central governments including forming a welfare board for cable TV operators, strict monitoring of Arasu operations by the union ministry and exemption of cable TV operations from Goods and Services Tax (GST).

    The Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation Limited (TACTV) had set the subscription fee as Rs 70, which was below the fee recommended by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Of this, cable operators were expected to pay 50 per cent to Arasu, the federation alleged.

    Hundreds of cable TV operators from across Tamil Nadu on Monday observed a fast condemning TACTV for acting against the welfare of cable TV operators.

    The Federation of Cable TV Associations of Tamil Nadu (FCTATN) has alleged that Arasu had claimed that it owned the complete cable the infrastructure and subscribers although TACTV was formed with almost zero investment since the necessary infrastructure and last mile connectivity were provided by the LCOs (local cable TV operators). “This is unfair,” FCTATN chief coordinator D.G.V.P. Sekar said.

    Alleging that TACTV was formed with almost zero investment since all the necessary infrastructure and last mile connectivity were provided by the local cable TV operators, the participants said that it was unfair on the part of TACTV to claim that all the infrastructure and subscribers as its own.

    The operators also accused TACTV of taking away from them the responsibility of collecting subscription fee, and asking the subscribers to directly pay it online. “Now, operators will have to wait for TACTV to credit the share to us,” Sekar said.

    FCTATN members also alleged that TACTV’s taluka-level and district-level control room operators were often appointed on the recommendation of ruling political party functionaries, and acted in an ‘high-handed behaviour’ towards the cable TV operators.

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  • MIB seeks all new MSO applications online

    MIB seeks all new MSO applications online

    NEW DELHI: Multi-system operators seeking registration for distribution of digital addressable signals to cable television networks can only do so online from 1 September 2017.

    In a directive, the information and broadcasting ministry has said that MSOs can apply on broadcastseva.gov.in and digitalindiamib.com. The directive says it had earlier on 1 May this year given the facility to apply both online and offline (physical submission) but had decided to stop taking offline applications.

    It noted that a number of applications had in fact been received online since then. The procedure for submission of applications online is available on these two websites.

    The total number of registered MSOs as on 31 July was 1455. Early this year, the government had said all provisional multi-system operators will be deemed as having regular licence.

    Faced with just less than one month to go before total switch-off of analogue signals, the government had on 6 March 2017 decided to treat all MSOs as permanent but with condition that the period of 10 years commences from the date they got registered as provisional MSOs.

    However, if the continuation of registration of any MSO is at any time found to be or considered detrimental to the security of the State then the registration so granted is liable to be cancelled/suspended, the order placed on the Ministry website specified. All other terms and conditions depicted in the provisional registration letters will continue to apply.

    Earlier, on 27 January 2017, it had been decided that all registered MSOs are free to operate in any part of the country, irrespective of registration for specified DAS notified areas granted by this Ministry.

    However, they have to submit the details of Headend, SMS, subscribers list and a self-certificate that they are carrying all the mandatory TV Channels, within six months from date of issuance of MSO registration, to the Ministry, failing which the MSO registration is liable to cancelled/suspended.

    Hence, all deemed regular registered MSOs also are required to submit the details to the Ministry within six months.

    ALSO READ :

    Godfather, Kal, Digi Cable & Intermedia licence cancellation stayed, 50 ‘pan-India’ MSOs’ op area changed

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  • HVL reports lower loss for fiscal ’17, media & communications segment revenue up

    HVL reports lower loss for fiscal ’17, media & communications segment revenue up

    BENGALURU: Hinduja Ventures Limited (HVL) reported lower consolidated loss of Rs 566.08 million for the fiscal ended 31 March 2017 (FY-17, current fiscal) as compared to the consolidated loss of Rs 812.068 million for the previous financial year (FY-16). HVL’s consolidated total revenue increased 21.47 percent in FY-17 to Rs 8,260.06 million as compared to Rs 6,799.789 million in the previous year.

    The company’s media and communications segment reported 24.5 percent higher revenue at Rs 6,131.949 million in the current year as compared to Rs 4,925.454 million in the previous fiscal. Loss from the Media and Communications segment operating loss in the current year was higher at Rs 3,148.046 million as compared to Rs 1,858.129 million as compared to the prevision financial year.

    As reported by www.indiantelevision.com, HVL had informed the stock exchanges yesterday that the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has sanctioned the Scheme of Arrangement for the vesting of its direct subsidiary Grant Investrade Limited’s (GIL) Head-end-in-the-sky (HITS) business undertaking to its indirect subsidiary Indusind Media & Communications Limited. Consequently, the company has filed revised financial results for fiscal 2017.

    The company said that the arrangement is expected to strengthen HVL’s investment in the media business, which will in turn unlock the value of its shareholders. Accordingly, pursuant to the aforesaid arrangement, the Headend-in-the- Sky (HITS) business undertaking of GIL vested in to IMCL with effect from 01 October 2016, being the appointed date.

    GIL had received the HITS licence in March 2014. Last year in September, the Hinduja Group had received shareholders’ approval to restructure its media business, which includes cable TV business under IndusInd Media and headend-in-the-sky (HITS) under GIL.

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