MUMBAI: Despite higher viewership of linear television during the lockdown, the cable operators’ business in India has felt the heat of the Covid2019 pandemic. While sales of new set-top boxes and collection for existing connections witnessed a drop, customers down-traded packs. Due to these factors, especially in view of customers opting for cheaper packs, the multi-system operators (MSOs) expect a high double-digit decline in FY21 revenues.
According to a survey done by INTIN on 92 MSOs (six per cent of overall base) across India, 63 per cent of cable operators maintained or improved their performance during the lockdown, overcoming several circumstantial challenges. Consumers also seem to be more satisfied as the number of received complaints increased for only 26 per cent operators.
While many MSOs have stated during the period that they could not provide new connections due to restrictions, the survey points to their concerns. Sales of the new box dropped for 75 per cent of the operators. Moreover, the collection also dropped for 84 per cent of cable operators which could be attributed to the unwillingness for digital payment and the lack of infrastructure, coupled with the social distancing norms.
Consumer sentiment is not high across industries due to the current economic scenario. It has reflected in the TV distribution business also as 41 per cent of operators experienced consumers down-trading to cheaper packs. Only nine per cent of the operators have witnessed addition of channels. There was an increase in demand for news channels and movie channels along with cable TV channels, but sports, GECs and infotainment reported a drop in demand.
Owing to all the factors, 77 per cent of MSOs expect their revenues in 2020-21 to drop whereas 32 per cent expect this drop to be more than 25 per cent. However, 66 per cent also do not plan any drop in the pack prices.
OTT threat
While Covid2019 has posed an unprecedented challenge for the MSOs, a larger – and long-term – challenge that is looming over them is the increasing consumer shift to over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Majority of cable operators (54 per cent) anticipate a negative impact of OTT on the cable TV business. However, some of the operators are already bringing change to their business model. For example, 25 per cent of cable operators have already launched their own OTTs. Fifty-seven per cent of operators are selling broadband service also with the hunger for data and higher bandwidth increasing across the country. But the statistics clearly indicate that a large number of MSOs are yet to upgrade their business models.
Amid this difficult scenario, the report also suggests some healthy practices, such as 100 per cent online payment, launch of targeted consumers offers, easy instalment payment methods, focusing on own content, including launch of OTT and pure cable channels to prevent the de-growth.
MUMBAI: Innovation is the key to sustain any business. With newer entrants capturing market share, emerging alternatives to traditional TV, the cable operators in the country have focused on creating a diverse portfolio of services. IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd. (IMCL) CEO Vynsley Fernandes, who believes in innovation to stay ahead of the competition, says it is not a cable television company but a digital services provider.
“We have launched broadband as our combo pack. Today, we are not a cable television company. We are a digital services provider. We provide video broadband and data to consumers’ homes. When we work with cable providers, we groom them to become digital service providers,” Fernandes said during a virtual fireside chat with Indiantelvision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.
He mentioned that all the major cable operators have moved to fibre and provide both broadband and cable because they understand the need to have a diversified portfolio. According to him, the cable operators are ahead of the curve as they have been providing broadband well before the bigger players entered.
“You have to keep on innovating. There is no other rule book in this business for success other than innovation. Everyone – DTH, cable TV, OTT – has to innovate to stay ahead of the curve. Can you build home security products built into it? Can you create payment gateways? The only way to keep innovating new products,” he stated.
About the broadband business, he said that they have a subscriber base of 300,000 which is growing very rapidly. “The good part is you need not have one at the cost of the other. Today our product is a combo product. We are offering fibre to the home, a high-value pack: 750 channels on cable television. So consumers are opting for cable, data, and broadband. Will there be a skew? Yes, there will be a skew. But technology will evolve but the ethos and principles will remain fundamental to the business,” he added.
Fernandes added that they have spent the last year ensuring that the subscriber base is built up again while it was affected during the rollout of new tariff order (NTO). Hence, IMCL closed the year with a large number of subscribers migrating back to IMLC. It also crossed five million-mark in the month of March.
“Cable continues to work in the highly-dense markets, urban areas like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, and to some extent places like Ahmedabad, Nagpur, etc. But our focus will always be major cities. We don’t have a major presence in Kolkata, but we are building it there. The cable works well because we are able to bundle it with broadband. In all our city markets we have been able to do that. HITS was always designed as a product to reach consumers in tier-3-4 markets and it has lived up to its reputation. Close to sixty-five per cent of our HITS base is from rural markets. Another 35 per cent is probably a mix between tier-2 and tier-3 markets. Our growth has continued in rural markets,” he added.
The veteran professional in the industry also said that during the last six months, a lot of businesses including competitors have realized that the future lies in collaboration. IMCL has also been working with some large pan-India MSOs to provide managed services through its HITS platform. The MSOs were also facing challenges of fibre cuts in rural India because the subscriber servicing cost (SSC) in rural India is much higher than cities because the density is much more.
“In our company today, with the WFH in place, everyone is given a new role. How can they innovate and work differently? The challenge is on revenue and margins. Revenues are going to be hit, but margins will be hit harder. The only way to do that is to substantiate the margins by building layers. So you have a cable TV layer, and you build broadband and offer OTT with it; not your own OTT, but partnering with someone to offer it as a hybrid product. You build a digital payment app over. So you build a stack of useful products. It is going to be tough and challenging in the coming days,” Fernandes commented.
MUMBAI: In these difficult times caused by the Covid2019 pandemic, entertainment and information keep floating into our television sets despite the shelter-in-place mandate. Although the TV viewership growth slowed down in the sixth week of the Covid2019 disruption, it is evident that audiences across India are consuming more content than during the pre-crisis period. While the spike has been attributed to various factors, the “real heroes” who are ensuring the flow of content have been undervalued: the distribution platform operators (DPOs).
A few days back, the ministry of information and broadcasting (MIB) also urged Direct-to-home (DTH) operators, multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) in a letter to continue to provide uninterrupted services to their subscribers and cooperate with other players within the distribution chain. Despite health risks, the DPOs have kept working on ground.
How ZEEL honours distribution partners through multilingual campaign
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (ZEEL) has come forward to pat its distributors on their backs. The network has rolled out two digital campaigns commending cable and DTH operators. One of the promos features Bollywood Badshah Shah Rukh Khan watching TV in a hall, superimposed with his own voiceover which thanks the ”superheroes” on account of whom Indian audiences are able to watch the superheroes of the screen in the comfort of their homes even as the pandemic is wreaking havoc. For the second short film, ZEEL’’s top TV stars were roped in and they are seen thanking and clapping for the entire workforce employed with LCOs, MSOs and DTH platforms for the effort they are putting into ensuring that viewers at home stay connected, informed and entertained.
Ideation of the campaign
ZEEL chief consumer officer Prathyusha Agarwal has said that their creative partner Lowe Lintas worked very closely with their teams on the concept and the execution of the applause film. The ubiquitous mobile phone was innovatively deployed as actors across channels of the network came together to create this extraordinary salute. Moreover, several solutions were deployed to ensure that the post-production work could be done seamlessly. She also noted that the entire concept to production was completed in record time and the major investment was all the people coming together and pouring their heart and soul into creating the film.
“In line with the rising trend of movie-watching, as part of this campaign we also used the concept of creating a parallel between superheroes and the true super heroes of this lockdown – our distribution partners. This was entirely a movie footage-based film made across languages executed by the teams at ZEEL. In the true spirit of being ‘Extraordinary Together’ we at ZEEL have viewed this adversity as an opportunity to innovate creatively and come up with methods of executing communication even while most stakeholders have been at home,” she added.
Agarwal says that consumers have been confined to their homes, making TV entertainment an ‘essential service’ infusing positivity and uplifting the mood of the nation. She added that ZEEL wholeheartedly applauds the undaunted efforts of distribution partners across the country through this multilingual campaign. “As the entire ecosystem is fast moving towards digitization and lower contact, we see this contextualized campaign in each genre and region as a strong trigger for the long due behaviour change towards prompt and proactive online subscription payments,” she added.
How ZEEL is working closely with DPOs; encouraging online payment mechanisms
ZEEL chief revenue officer and affiliate sales Atul Das expressed his faith in the long and valuable partnerships with all of the distribution partners making them ‘Extraordinary Together’. According to him, it is this extraordinary partnership that has been instrumental in ensuring that the consumers have been able to enjoy uninterrupted entertainment. He also added that ZEE recognizes and deeply appreciates the challenges that the distribution partner fraternity has faced as a result of the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“We had observed that in the changed environment, our distribution partners had been keen to promote contactless payments and online recharge. We have taken a step further to extend our unflinching support by promoting the online recharge option through our vast network of national and regional channels with an intention to communicate with them in their local languages. Through this campaign, we also expressed our heartfelt thanks to each of our DPOs, and would like to assure them of our continued support and are committed to work closely with them in the days to come,” he added.
He stated that ZEEL supports the digitisation endeavours of its partners by encouraging consumers to move towards online payment mechanisms. According to him, the campaign is their effort of extending partnership to help distribution associates by ensuring that the message quickly reaches billions of consumers. This in turn allows DPOs to continue to provide their services seamlessly to consumers, he added.
How the DPOs respond to ZEEL’s online recharge campaign
Tata Sky MD and CEO Harit Nagpal: “ZEEL was amongst the first to respond to remind customers to recharge in time, during the lockdown, so that they can remain connected to the world outside their homes. We are happy that ZEEL partnered with us and other DPOs to come out with a consumer campaign to acknowledge the contribution of DTH partners, and also to encourage consumers to make online payments through the Tata Sky app & website.”
IndusInd Media & Communications Ltd. (IN Digital & NXT) CEO
Vynsley Fernandes: “Encouraging consumers to make monthly subscription payments in a contactless manner via online mechanisms has now emerged as a priority for our industry. ZEEL’s online recharge campaign is a reflection of a true partnership approach that comes in at a time when the whole of the industry is adjusting to new ways of collecting subscription payments online. We really appreciate ZEEL’s support to promote this campaign through their network channels at this critical hour.”
Digiana Projects Pvt. Ltd chairman and managing director Sukhdev Singh Ghumman:
“We as partners are fully committed to ensure that consumers get uninterrupted access to all content. Through the online recharge campaign, ZEEL has made a pioneering effort in spreading the message to consumers on how to keep the entertainment going while staying in the safety of their homes. We have also played the promos on our local channels to promote the campaign. We thank ZEEL for their wonderful initiative.”
Asianet Digital Network Pvt. Ltd. president and CCO Shankar Narayan:
“Online payment mechanisms have emerged as a new normal not just in metros but in regional markets as well. ZEEL with its strong regional presence has truly been very supportive with the multilingual and culturally relevant online recharge campaign for our market. We really appreciate the support that the Zee Network has extended towards making this initiative into a full fledged national campaign.”
Along with these leading players, several other distribution partners from across the country including Haldwani Digital, Darsh Digital Patna, Cable Combine Communications Siliguri, Skynet Allahabad, KCBPL, Kolkata and many others have expressed their deep appreciation for ZEEL’s online recharge campaign that is now on-air across the network channels.
MUMBAI: In the wake of the Covid2019 crisis, Maharashtra Cable Operators Foundation (MCOF) has written a letter to the union minister of information and broadcasting Prakash Javadekar submitting its propositions for long-term relief and transformation of the last-mile cable operators.
“Like all other businesses, we too are impacted adversely due to lockdown and economic slowdown. In fact, the impact on us is more severe, since our services including broadband have been classified, and as essential services have to be kept operational. Though we are sure that everyone knows the costs and risks of this, the financial squeeze out of failure to collect our legitimate dues may not be known to many,” MCOF president Arvind Prabhoo stated.
He also mentioned that they anticipate a cutting down of spend on both services for a couple of forthcoming quarters and a need to restructure the business that involves two sets of much stronger players: broadcasters and MSOs.
Here are the excerpts from the charter:
· The basic service tier of 200 channels priced at Rs 130 has been requested to be exempted from GST
· LCOs to be registered with the MIB and accorded recognition as a class distinct from MSO with role-specific duties and rights
· LCOs be treated at par with telcos and allocated part of USOF grants for their Internet-related projects
· The fibre networks belonging to LCOS be evaluated and accorded HCPA (Horizontal Connectivity Provider Agency) status for e-governance and telecom expansion purposes.
· Future-oriented training modules be designed and imparted to cable network executives under the National Skilling Mission.
MCOF’s letter to IBF
Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) also recently wrote a letter to the Union Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar seeking an economic relief and rehabilitation package. While IBF has made 18 requests, Maharashtra Cable Operators Foundation (MCOF) also sought specific benefits for the last-mile operators.
“It is very unfortunate that the media business has grown without interactions, leaving aside integration across the value chain. Current business and resource emergencies provide all of us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to rectify all past mistakes and redraw roadmaps for mutual benefits. It is with these views and a sincere desire to ensure not only survival but also growth for all that we are writing this letter to you,” Prabhoo stated.
He added that they believe with in view of the power of the media, there is a considerable possibility of most of the 18 point charter of propositions being accepted.
“We write as the players from the most critical last-mile deliveries which are no less important than the content itself. We do hope that IBF has not taken “I, me, and myself” approach but has considered needs of the entire value chain,”
He added that they are sure that they too are suffering no less than broadcasters and also rendering services at high costs and risks. Hence, the association has asked to know specific benefits that they may expect to trickle down to them and enable them to keep the services flowing.
“We need not impress upon you the fact that without roots no tree can survive and all benefits you may extract would become infructuous if the 60 per cent+ market serviced by LCOS disappears. We have held back submitting our requests cum demands to minimise conflicts and cut short response time for the authorities,” the letter added.
However, the association is yet to hear from the MIB or IBF.
BENGALURU: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited-owned Indian multi-system operator and internet services provider Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited (Hathway) reported consolidated profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 105.47 crore for the year ended 31 March 2020 (FY 2020, year under review) as compared to a loss of Rs 187.67 crore for FY 2019. The company’s cable division reported a consolidated operating profit of Rs 84.77 crore and operating revenue of Rs 1,230.71 crore as compared to a consolidated operating loss of Rs 457.46 crore on operating revenue of Rs 1,030.66 crore in FY 2019. Cable business revenue for the year under review grew 19.4 per cent as compared to FY 2019.
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The other business of Hathway – broadband internet services saw operating revenue grow 7.6 per cent in FY 2020 to Rs 567.59 crore from Rs 527.63 crore in the previous year. The internet services business incurred an operating loss of Rs 20.54 crore in FY 2020 as compared to an operating profit of Rs 42.01 crore in FT 2019.
Hathway’s consolidated operating revenue in FY 2020 grew 15.4 per cent to Rs 1,798.39 crore from Rs 1,558.29 crore in FY 2019. Consolidated total income for the year grew 26.2 per cent to Rs 2044.14 crore from Rs 1,619.20 crore in the previous year.
For the quarter ended 31 March 2020 (Q4 2020, quarter under review), Hathway reported consolidated operating revenue of Rs 455.68 crore, which was 19.6 per cent more than the Rs 381.04 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year Q4 2019 (Y-o-Y). Consolidated PAT for the quarter under review grew more than sevenfold (up 642.5 per cent) in Q4 2020 Y-o-Y to Rs 49.08 crore from Rs 6.61 crore.
Cable business operating revenue for Q4 2020 increased 22.4 per cent to Rs 304.36 crore Y-o-Y from Rs 248.61 crore. Hathway reported operating profit of Rs 39.04 crore as compared to an operating loss of Rs 333.89 crore for Q4 2019. Internet services business revenue for the quarter under review grew 14.3 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 151.32 crore from Rs 132.43 crore. Internet services business saw an operating profit of Rs 1.24 crore in Q4 2020 as compared to an operating loss of Rs 18.11 crore in Q4 2019.
Let us look at the other numbers reported by the company
All numbers in this report are consolidated unless stated otherwise.
Total expenditure in FY 2020 grew 7.6 per cent to Rs 1,960.53 crore from Rs 1,822.72 crore in the previous year. Pay channel cost during the year under review declined 8.1 per cent to Rs 560.56 crore from Rs 609.85 crore. Employee cost in FY 2020 grew 14.4 per cent to Rs 94.79 crore from Rs 82.86 crore. Other operational expenses in FY 2020 grew 21.1 per cent to Rs 306.62 crore from Rs 253.30 crore. Finance cost grew 2.5 per cent to Rs 226.37 crore from Rs 220.80 crore. Other expenses in FY 2020 grew 32.2 per cent to Rs 401.09 crore from Rs 303.50.
Total expenditure in Q4 2020 grew 5.2 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 458.53 crore from Rs 435.97 crore. Pay channel cost during the period under review increased 16.25 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 152.70 crore from Rs 131.41 crore. Employee cost in Q4 2020 reduced 3.1 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 21.53 crore from Rs 22.22 crore. Other operational expenses in Q4 2020 grew 20.4 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 79.72 crore from Rs 66/23 crore. Finance cost declined 22.1 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 43.13 crore from Rs 55.38 crore. Other expenses in Q4 2020 grew 5.5 per cent Y-o-Y to Rs 81.70 crore from Rs 77.45 crore.
BENGALURU: Indian cable and internet services major GTPL Hathway Ltd (GTPL) reported profit after tax (PAT) for the year ended 31 March 2020 (FY 2020, year under review) at Rs 87.72 crore which was more than triple the PAT of Rs 25.08 crore for the previous fiscal (FY 2019). However, the company reported a loss of Rs 19.59 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2020 (Q4 2020, quarter under review) as compared to a loss of Rs 23.50 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter (Q4 2019). The board of directors of the company have proposed a dividend of Rs 3 per share (30 percent) of face value of Rs 10 each for the year.
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GTPL has reported adding 700,000 cable TV subscribers and 80,000 internet subscribers during the year under review. It closed FY 2020 and Q4 2020 with eight million (0.8 crore or 80 lakh) CATV active subscribers or 7.5 million (0.75 crore, 75 lakh) paying CATV subscribers and 405,000 internet subscribers.
The company reported 88 per cent increase in consolidated total income at Rs 2,424.74 crore in FY 2020 as compared to Rs 1,289.15 crore for FY 2019. Consolidated operating income for the year under review increased 91.4 per cent to Rs 2,384.08 crore from Rs 1,245.82 crore in FY 2019. Consolidated total income for Q4 2020 at Rs 666.55 crore was almost double (up 91.1 per cent) as compared to Rs 348.75 crore in Q4 2019. Operating income in Q4 2020 was more than double (up 103.3 per cent) at Rs 655.65 crore as compared to Rs 322.43 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter.
Segment Revenue
GTPL Hathway has three segments: CATV, Internet and EPC; through EPC it is executing a contract for BharatNet, for which it has reported annual revenue for the first time in FY 2020.
CATV segment reported 42.2 per cent growth in operating revenue for FY 2020 at Rs 1,565.50 crore from Rs 1,101.26 crore in the previous year. The segment had an operating profit growth of 141 per cent at Rs 108.20 crore during the year under review as compared to Rs 44.90 crore in FY 2019. Operating revenue for CATV segment in Q4 2020 grew 49.2 per cent to Rs 427.44 crore from Rs 286.40 crore in Q4 2019. Operating loss for CATV segment increased to Rs 34.62 crore in Q4 2019 as compared to an operating loss of Rs 25.82 crore in Q4 2019.
Internet services segment revenue in FY 2020 grew 15.9 per cent to Rs 167.60 crore from Rs 144.56 crore in FY 2019. The segment had an operating profit of Rs 4.96 crore in FY 2020 as compared to an operating loss of Rs 2.06 crore in FY 2019. ARPU for the segment in FY 2020 at Rs 422 was higher than the Rs 413 for FY 2019. For Q4 2020, Internet Services revenue grew 28.5 per cent to Rs 46.31 crore from Rs 36.03 crore. The segment had an operating profit of Rs 3.64 crore during the quarter under review as compared to an operating loss of Rs 5.31 crore in Q4 2019. ARPU for Internet Service segment for Q4 2020 at Rs 422 was higher than RS 415 in the immediate trailing quarter, Q3 2020, and the Rs 413 in Q4 2019.
GTPL reported operating revenue of Rs 650.98 crore in FY 2020 for its EPC Project. The segment had an operating profit of Rs 44.69 crore. For Q4 2019, EPC Project operating revenue was Rs 181.91 crore as compared to Rs 237.66 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q3 2020.
Company Speak
GTPL managing director Anirudhsinh Jadeja said, “Amidst a year of industry reforms, GTPL Hathway has emerged as a stronger company. Our operating ability to expand our services have improved and so has our ability to generate free cashflow. The highlight of FY20 was strong profitability, debt reduction and geographical expansion. Our FY20 consolidated revenue and EBITDA grew by 88 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively. During the year, we have reduced our gross debt by Rs 1,293 million (Rs 129.30 crore). During the year, we have strengthened our CATV presence in Mumbai (Maharashtra) and have entered Chennai (Tamil Nadu). We have also expanded our subscribers base in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in FY20.”
“FY20 was the first full year of implementation of the New Framework across the industry. Implementation of new regime prima facie resulted in change in LCOs’ earning profile adversely and restricted their cash flow cycle, consequently, lowering their ability to pay their dues to the company. Pursuant to the above change and assessment carried out by the management, we have recognised Rs 679.64 million (Rs 67.964 crore) towards impairment of trade receivables and have disclosed the same as ‘Exceptional Item’", added Jadeja.
Let us look at the other numbers reported by GTPL for FY 2020
Consolidated total expenditure increased 86.2 per cent during the year under review to Rs 2,198.93 crore from Rs 1,180.92 crore in FY 2019. Pay channel cost in FY 2020 reduced 38.5 per cent to Rs 513.77 crore from Rs 835.92 crore in the previous year. Other operational costs declined 5.8 per cent to Rs 88.34 crore from Rs 93.90 crore in the previous year.
Employee benefits expense in FY2020 increased 16.2 per cent to Rs 126.1 crore from Rs 108.44 crore in the previous fiscal. Finance costs increased 14.2 per cent during the year under review to Rs 51.35 crore from Rs 44.95 crore. Other expenses in the period declined 26.2 per cent to Rs 178.42 crore from Rs 243.86 crore in FY 2019.
MUMBAI: Major multi system operator (MSO) Den Networks reported a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 22.52 crore in the fourth quarter ending 31 March 2020.
The MSO reported consolidated net loss of Rs 212.82 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. Revenue from operations in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 327.79 crore as compared with Rs 273.1 crore in the year-ago period.
While its revenue from cable distribution network stood at Rs 310.18 crore in the January-March quarter as compared with Rs 255.11 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal, the broadband vertical had a revenue of Rs 17.62 crore as compared to Rs 17.99 crore in the fourth quarter of last FY.
For FY20, the MSO’s consolidated profit after tax stood at Rs 58.64 crore while it had posted a consolidated loss of Rs 300.55 crore in 2018-19. Its consolidated revenue from operations in FY20 stood at Rs 1291.45 crore compared to Rs 1206.07 crore in the previous fiscal.
MUMBAI: As the country battles the COVID-19 crisis, a large chunk of the population is confined at home. To ease the burden of social distancing, most of the people are consuming more content, both on linear TV and online. The surge in consumption has caused higher demand for cable boxes as well as broadband connection of GTPL Hathway.
“The demands are becoming higher actually as people are staying at home. We are recovering a number of old boxes in the cable side and there is demand for new boxes as well. However, we are seeing more surge in broadband connection and bandwidth consumption is also very high. The consumption has increased on the cable side as well,” GTPL Hathway business head – video and chief strategy officer Piyush Pankaj said.
While there is a curfew-like lockdown, it is challenging for on-ground staff to run operations. But Pankaj mentioned that as MSOs and LCOs come under essential services, the proper documentation proving that they are, is helping them to work. He also said that they are updating police permission everywhere that the service comes under essential segments.The on-ground staff have also been given proper cards and letters to save them from any hassle. To ensure safety, they have also been given health guides, hand sanitizers, dresses covering their face and body.
However, GTPL has also reduced the manpower working on ground, as the main requirement there is the technical staff. The workforce, which do not need to be on-ground, have been given work-from-home option. Hence, while 20 per cent of the team is working from the real location, rest of the workers perform their duties from home.
“Till now the payment side is rolling smoothly, we are sending URLs to customers and asking them to pay and in some cases operators are also collecting on their paytm also. Sometimes operators are using the URL, using paytm to pay us; somewhere consumers are paying directly to us. Lockdown started one week ago; we have not faced any problem on the credit side till then. If any problem comes, we will update technology and adhere to that,” Pankaj added.
GTPL has put some advertisements on COVID-19 on its own local channels. Moreover, whenever a customer calls, it is giving out messages to ensure consumer’s safety as well.
MUMBAI: Organisations across the globe and across sectors are re-orienting work procedures amid the COVID-19 pandemic as the crisis continues to escalate. While remote work is easier for a few organisations, the industries which demand on-ground work are facing tougher challenges; distributor platform operators (DPOs) come under this segment. IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL), one of the major multi-system operators (MSO) in India, is stepping up its efforts through ‘Business Continuity Plan’ (BCP) to ensure the safety of the staff alongside smooth operation.
IMCL CEO Vynsley Fernandes spoke about the BCP which was in place way before the pandemic kicked in. The plan applies to all the functions including sales, technical across regions and layered in three levels. Under L1, basic precautions would be taken and employees work under three shifts, each of eight hours. The L2 kicks in under a lockdown when certain functions are not able to perform; the operation then takes place in two shifts of 12 hours and employees coming to office get reduced to 33 per cent. In the extremely critical situation, L3 gets effective under which only very critical 2-3 per cent staff come to office and stay at the workplace for 24 hours; rest work from home. Moreover, the company puts into action all the digital mechanisms for collections from the cable operators at this level. IMCL is currently operating under L3.
“LCOs have a concern that they don't want to allow the subscriber to make the payment transfer directly to us. And so, what we did was we tied up with EASEBUZZ and we got the LCOs to get money transferred from their subscribers to their accounts. The Central Action Team (CAT) gets on a video conference call in the morning at nine o'clock and in the evening at five o'clock every day. Every day, we talk to take stock of the situation, what action to take, how to keep our staff safe, and what procedures to put in place,” Fernandes added.
How the business is running under current situation
Fernandes said this plan is helping them keep the businesses ongoing in terms of renewal, subscription, collection and packages. LCOs are easily collecting money from customers. Moreover, IMCL has also circulated a number of materials to LCOs on how they can stay safe and keep customers safe. He added that they did the entire communication in 11 languages. He mentioned that when the crisis started about three weeks ago, they circulated the health guide at that time itself.
“We shared with all our LCOs and we also asked them to share with their customers, because we wanted to make sure the safety as it is not just a business, it's also a moral duty. We made sure that we spread a lot of communication on how to stay safe,” he added.
How is IMCL effectively communicating?
As Fernandes said, it is communicating to the LCOs on WhatsApp because they are all connected to the IMCL team through this messaging app. IMCL also sent out letters and posters to the LCOs. Moreover, they are also connecting to the subscribers on TV itself. If a NXTDigital subscriber switches on the TV, he will get to see a lot of communications from the MSO on what precautions to take, what call centres to call up along with other details.
“We've been very proactive on this, because we are dealing with the LCOs. We made sure that we got everything sorted out in the difficult time but also looked at how we can help our staff and LCOs as much as possible. We took whatever action we had to take that way,” he concluded.
MUMBAI: The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) has published a document listing all the registered multi-system operators (MSO) in the country. As per the document, there are 1645 registered MSOs in India as on 28 February 2020.
Fifteen MSOs were granted registration in the month of February 2020. A total of 150 MSOs were granted registration in the year 2019. Surprisingly, just one MSO, Sharma Cable Network, was granted registration in the entire of 2018 as per the document.
All the granted registrations are valid for a period of 10 years. The name of the companies that were added in the registration list in January includes Haur Cable Network, Nabadiganta Cable Network, Krishna Enterprises, Lamjingba Times, Sneha Digital Networks, Bangabhumi Cable and Broadband, AIS Cable & Broadband, Durga Digital, Asian Cable Network, GTPL Vijayaraya Network, VSN Network, Sri Srinivasa Cable Network, City Cable Network, Star Digital Services and Mak Infrapromoters
The ministry has not cancelled any registration in February 2020. A total number of MSOs registrations cancelled by MIB is 74 till 31 January 2020.
