ITV

Category: Cable TV

  • DEN Networks introduces 22 HD channels in Kochi

    DEN Networks introduces 22 HD channels in Kochi

    MUMBAI: DEN Networks is looking at serving its Kochi subscribers better. The multi system operator (MSO) has announced the launch of its HD package comprising 22 channels for its existing subscribers in Kochi. With this launch, DEN has become the only cable TV distribution company in Kerala to offer highest number of HD channels.

     

    The HD package would include channels like, Star Plus, Zee TV, Zee Cinema, Star Gold, Star World, Life OK, NGC, NGC Wild, NGC Music, HBO Hits, HBO Defined, Star Movies, Movies Now, Romedy Now, Zee Studio, Star Sports HD1 and Star Sports HD2. 

     

    Commenting on the development, DEN Networks CEO S.N. Sharma said, “At DEN Networks, we have always believed in consistent improvement – both in terms of customer service and our offerings. Our ability to keep our customers in pace with the times has led to us being among the fastest growing players in Cable TV distribution in Kerala. Our new HD Package is yet another step towards bringing a richer, high definition TV viewing experience for our customers in Kochi.”

     

    “Kerala has more than 1.2 million subscribers and most of them are early adapters when it comes to latest technology. At DEN Networks, our ability to sense the evolving demand and offer our customers customised solutions have helped us to garner increasing market share,” added Sharma. 

     

    “In the next few months, while we will increase our presence across all 14 districts of Kerala; we will also introduce this HD Package in other towns like Trivandrum, Kottayam, Kannur, Mallapuram, Pallakad etc,” he concluded.

     

    DEN Network’s Cable TV services are available in 10 of the 14 districts in Kerala, namely Eranakulam (Kochi), Allapuzha, Kottayam, Trivandrum, Thrissur, Mallapuram, Pallakad, Kozhikode (Calicut), Kannur and Kasargode.

     

    The MSO offers 200 SD channels and 22 HD channels in Kochi as of now, all the other places offering is 140 channels, which will be upgraded to 200 and 22 HD channels in the coming months. Also company will soon be introducing packages to subscribers in Kerala, that will offer the choice of deciding what bundle of channels to view and pay for. Kerala has a total market size of six million cable homes, out of which, DEN is having more than 20 per cent market share as of now and fast growing.

  • NSTPL to use Volicon’s Observer Monitoring Technology to support HITS platform

    NSTPL to use Volicon’s Observer Monitoring Technology to support HITS platform

    MUMBAI: Volicon today announced that NSTPL (Noida Software Technology Park Limited), part of India’s Jain TV Group, is using the Volicon Observer® Media Intelligence Platform™ digital video monitoring and logging system to enable efficient, effective compliance and quality of service (QoS) monitoring for over 200 channels being aggregated, processed, and uplinked via the company’s Headend-in-the-Sky (HITS) platform, JAINHITS. This platform, the first of its kind in India, offers cable operators across India a straightforward and cost-effective means of meeting the country’s mandatory shift from analog to addressable digital systems.

     

    “JAINHITS makes it easy and affordable for cable operators to move to digital operations while complying with all legal, regulatory, and content requirements, and the Volicon Observer Media Intelligence Platform plays a critical role in assuring these requirements are met,” said Mr. Rakesh Gupta, Head, JAINHITS. “Using this reliable and highly scalable monitoring system, we can record all of the channels we provide and very easily review and confirm the quality and availability of that content — thus ensuring the highest quality of service to JAINHITS customers across India at all times.”

     

    NSTPL, already an established provider of TV broadcasting, newsgathering, and video up-link services, launched JAINHITS in October 2012 to help cable operators meet the December 2014 digitization deadline set by the Indian Parliament. Through this platform, the company downlinks content from different broadcasters, processes the signals, and uplinks them via satellite for download by its customers and cable operators across India.

     

    The Observer Media Intelligence Platform continuously captures and stores this content, enabling NSTPL to maintain a visual record of the content that has been processed and uplinked. Through an intuitive Web-based interface, the Volicon system also provides easy access both to live streams and recorded media. Monitoring staff and other users at the desktop can thus monitor the content going out to customers or go back days or months to find and provide proof that uplinked content met all appropriate regulations, standards, and quality parameters.

     

    “As a flexible and intuitive solution for monitoring, recording, accessing, and reviewing audio and video, the Observer Media Intelligence Platform serves as a powerful tool for service providers such as NSTPL,” said Gary Learner, Chief Technology Officer at Volicon. “Equipped with the Observer Media Intelligence Platform, the company can assure that its innovative services meet compliance and QoS standards, thus giving cable operators an affordable and worry-free route for providing quality digital services.”

     

    Information about Volicon and the company’s products is available at www.volicon.com.

  • Digicable files police complaint against Hathway in Mumbai

    Digicable files police complaint against Hathway in Mumbai

    MUMBAI: Jagjit Singh Kohli is furious. The cable TV industry veteran and promoter of Digicable  has  reportedly filed a police complaint against Hathway Cable and a distributor Santosh Ankolekar.  The police complaint – a copy of which is with indiantelevision.com – names Hathway promoter Viren Raheja,  western region in charge and President finance Milind Karnik, an executive Rajendra Rane and Ankolekar as the guilty parties.

     

    JSK – as he is known in the industry – is seeking justice. The reason for him taking such a drastic step is because the latter – who was a distributor of Digicable – did a deal with India’s leading cable TV MSO  as part of which he allegedly sold his  network to it. Ankolekar,  according to Digicable sources – was a small local cable operator  with a network of around 1,500 subscribers in the Andheri east area of Mumbai. Ankolekar grew rapidly  after his appointment as a distributor by Digicable in 2007. According to the MSO, he was given about 50,000 STBs to seed to local cable operators in the area and convert them to Digicable subscribers, which he did.

     

    “But the network was not really his,” says Kohli. “It was owned by Digicable, and we offered to show the documents to the Hathway management but they were not bothered about facts and continued using our network.”

     

    According to Kohli, Hathway swapped the Digicable boxes  for its own and when his team asked them to return them to him, it was not done. “The point is they may have inadvertently made a mistake but then they have to make amends which they are refusing to do,” says  Kohli.

     

    Hathway officials deny any wrongdoing. They state that it was Ankolekar who came to the MSO seeking help.

     

    “Digicable had not been able to make payments to broadcasters for quite sometime and his signals were consistently getting switched off,” says a senior Hathway executive. “When he came to us we offered to give him Hathway boxes as we were getting a large territory in the heart of Mumbai. And we would be in a position to provide consistent services to subscribers as our deals with broadcasters are in place.”

     

    The executive states that there was no swapping of boxes or anything of that sort. “Digicable had given the boxes to local cable operators,” says he. “We did too. But we did not take the Digicable boxes back  from the LCOs. If the boxes are with the LCOs, then Digicable should take them back from them.”

     

    The MSO stated – at the time of writing – that the company was unaware of Karnik or Viren Raheja being named in the FIR. “We would have got a call from the police station,” says a senior executive. “To the best of our knowledge only Rane and Santosh are named in the FIR and no one else. “

     

    Digicable had earlier had a run-in with Hathway last year when it had alleged that its former CEO Amit Nag had colluded with the latter  in “hijacking” its network in Kolkata.

  • SC directs ETV and MAA TV to provide signals to JAINHITS

    SC directs ETV and MAA TV to provide signals to JAINHITS

    MUMBAI: The Supreme Court of India has refused the request of ETV and MAA TV to give stay on the order of the Telecom Disputes Settlement & Appellate Tribunal’s (TDSAT) dated 14 March 2014 which had directed the two channels to provide signals to the Headend In The Sky (HITS) operator JAINHITS.

     

    Moreover, the Apex court has directed ETV and MAA TV, in the interim, to provide signals within two-days on pan-India basis to the HITS player.

     

    “Noida Software Technology Park Limited (NSTPL) has been trying to get signals for JAINHITS from various broadcasters for the past two years, but have been denied the same on various grounds. It was only in October last year that broadcasters started providing signals, after orders were passed by the Tribunal. However ETV and MAA TV still were reluctant to provide signals thus necessitating NSTPL to approach TDSAT,” informed NSTPL counsel Vivek Chib. 

     

    According to the Tribunal’s 14 March 2014 order that comprised TDSAT chairperson Justice Aftab Alam and Kuldip Singh, ETV and MAA TV could not refuse to grant signals to JAINHITS on the grounds that certain defaulter local cable operators (LCOs) or multi system operators (MSOs) may approach NSTPL for signals.

     

    The Tribunal held that the respondents i.e. ETV and MAA TV had not furnished the name of a single MSO or LCO that might have been held to be its defaulter by a court or competent authority and to whom the petitioner might supply the signals. Undeniably, the petitioner itself was not in any default in payments to the respondent for the simple reason that they were not in any business relationship earlier. Thus looked at from any angle, the prohibition of the provision to regulation 3.2 of the Telecommunication (Broadcasting and Cable Services) Interconnection Regulations, 2004 was not applicable to this case.

     

    Both ETV and MAA TV had preferred appeals challenging the Tribunal’s orders in the Supreme Court showing unwillingness to provide signals to NSTPL’s JAINHITS.

     

    As a result of this interim order passed in favour of NSTPL, JAINHITS consumers would now be able to subscribe to ETV and MAA TV.

  • MPA issues Asia Pacific pay TV slowdown warning

    MPA issues Asia Pacific pay TV slowdown warning

    MUMBAI:  Digital pay TV is slowing down in Asia. That was the key takeaway from Media Partners Asia (MPA) executive director Vivek Couto’s annual report on the Asia Pacific market during the Asia Pacific Operators Summit in Bali, last week.

     

    MPA estimates are that entire Asia Pacific pay television ecosystem added 26 million net new customers in 2013, the lowest annual growth since 2007. This reflects a marked deceleration in China and India as well as softer growth in Southeast Asia, especially Thailand, which was the weak link in the region.

     

    MPA which was until this year bullish on the digital pay-TV universe in Asia Pacific seems to have turned cautious if not bearish. It says that net new additions will accelerate in APAC over 2015-16, largely due to some gains in India associated with next, delayed phase of digitisation but the general trend is one of deceleration. Overall, MPA has downgraded pay TV growth for the region at 9 per cent CAGR until 2018.  Adjusted for multiple subscriptions, the data firm indicates that pay-TV penetration will increase from 52 per cent market share in 2013 to 60 per cent by 2018. 

     

    In India, phase I and II of digitisation boosted growth in 2012 but with that done and amidst various structural factors plus the macro environment along with currency depreciation, growth slowed in 2013. “Now we see the next delayed phase of digitisation that is phase III, boosting net new subscribers to 8 million a year in 2015 and 7 million in 2016 before decelerating again by 2018,” informed Couto.

     

    He estimates that on an active paying basis, India has more than 60 million paying digital subscribers. Of this, while 37 million come from DTH, 23 million is from cable. 

     

    “Over the last 24 months, it’s been a transitionary process for the cable industry in India. While in the analogue regime, the multi system operators were at Rs 11 per subscriber, in the digital era, the MSOs are now getting anywhere between Rs 50-70 in Mumbai and Delhi. They will now need to get to Rs 100-110 to start breaking even on video excluding carriage,” said Couto.

     

    Net additions in southeast Asia slowed by almost half last year from 3.7 million to 1.9 million and the two big DTH platforms in Indonesia in particular and Malaysia contributed more than 45 per cent to that growth.  According to MPA, the net additions will reaccelerate in southeast Asia to about 2 – 2.5 million a year driven largely by Indonesia, steady growth in Malaysia and the Philippines but the expectation is that disruption to continue in Thailand and only incremental growth to show up in Vietnam while Singapore will remain somewhat flat.

     

     

    The brakes have been slammed on cable TV growth in China – the other large TV market globally – courtesy direct competition from IPTV, internet TV (the most popular of which are services provided by Wasu, LeTV, XiaoMi and BesTV’s own OTT service platform), and to some extent, online video. Couto said that IPTV in China saw a steady growth of 5.6 million net additions in 2013, driven by content and increasing broadband reach.

     

    North Asia, consisting of Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan and Korea, saw a rise last year only because of Korea, which contributed 80 per cent to growth due to new customers on IPTV and DTH in a market where penetration exceeds 100 per cent.

     

    “Looking at the macro landscape, you can see pay-TV penetration marginally improve in China over the next five years and this will deliver real pay models, driven largely by IPTV. It might improve further as operators become challenged by the new regulatory policy that establishes a set-top box internet-TV model. A number of online video operators have formed partnerships to enter into the internet TV space,” informed Couto.

     

    In China, India and Indonesia too, the growth in TV houses and wireless broadband users will drive increases in consumption of content. Fixed broadband subscribers across the APAC region will increase too, from 310 million in 2013 to 400 million by 2018 – driven by China, India, Thailand, Philippines and Australia.

     

     

    For Couto, the growth of video on demand (VOD) is now starting to take shape.  “Our metrics just cover pay-TV but this 13 per cent average annual growth to almost US$ 4 billion is driven by China, Korea and Japan while in southeast Asia, Malaysia is the clear market leader with Astro being the best,” he said.

  • MCOF sets up CVNO SCOPE with signal from BR Cable

    MCOF sets up CVNO SCOPE with signal from BR Cable

    MUMBAI: Multisystem operators (MSOs) are in for some serious competition. This time from a MSO cooperative formed by the Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) along with BR Cable Network, christened SCOPE (Synergy Cable Operators Private Limited).  

     
    The first-of-its-kind cable virtual network operator (CVNO) will be formally inaugurated on 2 May, which coincides with the opening day of MCOF’s conference for LMOs called the National Conclave on Broadband and Cable (NCBC-2014).

     
    Already, SCOPE has starting seeding boxes in Mumbai. “While we have seeded boxes in Vile Parle and Thane, in the next 10 days, we will be seeding boxes in 50 other locations in Mumbai and Thane,” MCOF president Arvind Prabhoo tells indiantelevision.com.
     

    The newly-minted set-up will borrow its infrastructure from BR Cable Network while operations will be handled by MCOF. “This is a way to re-empower the last mile owners.  It is they who will manage the subscribers. They will have full ownership of the customers, unlike what is happening in the current scenario, where the MSO claims ownership of the customers.  Also, the LMOs will have limited access to the SMS, where they can feed all details about the customer and bill the subscriber,” explains Prabhoo.
     

    Unlike the rest of the cable TV industry, SCOPE will enter the market, with packages in place. “We will create packages according to the needs of subscribers. While other players have still not got packaging in place, we will give consumers the choice to watch what they want to,” informs Prabhoo. “We will not deal with broadcasters on our own. We will take the channels from BR Cable and then package them to give them to our subscribers.”

     
    SCOPE will pay BR Cable 15 paise per channel, per set top box, per month as signal processing charges. SCOPE will pay a minimum of Rs 15 per STB per month and a maximum of Rs 25 per STB per month for any number of channels it takes from BR Cable. Over and above this, SCOPE will pay the operator content cost charges as per the package. For subscribers, minimum package cost will be Rs 125 and this will include all the Marathi channels and have a top-up channel facility. The LMO will get 60 per cent of the package fee, the subscriber opts for. SCOPE has already bought 50,000 STBs and placed an order for an additional 2 lakh boxes. Currently, all members of MCOF are part of SCOPE. Ask Prabhoo how big is SCOPE and he laughs, “The number of LMOs who have come together is staggering, beyond someone’s belief.”

     
    Each LMO has made an initial investment of Rs 1 lakh in return for 100 STBs. “The best part of the cooperative is that irrespective of the number of subscribers one owns, every LMO has five shares in the company,” informs Prabhoo

     
    MCOF hopes that SCOPE will serve as a role model for DAS phase III and phase IV. MCOF also hopes that in the beginning, SCOPE customers will achieve savings of 25 per cent over the prevailing MSO packages and at least 15 per cent over comparable DTH offerings.

     
    About adding customers, Prabhoo says, “Well initially, we will convert 25 per cent of our existing customer base to SCOPE customers, replacing their existing boxes with the SCOPE box, at no additional cost. If any customer wants to upgrade, we will give them the SCOPE HD STB.” The SCOPE SD box will cost Rs 1,100 and the HD box Rs 1,500. 

     
    The new entrant will also provide high speed internet service to its customers.  “The service will be provided by Bolt. Subscribers can opt for any kind of speed they want and at 30 per cent less than what is provided by others,” says Prabhoo. Plans are afoot for bundling services like a cable and internet combo pack. The MSO will also launch an Android box. 

     
    SCOPE is eyeing not only Maharashtra, but the whole country. Even as its collaboration with BR Cable Network takes off, it has also got into an arrangement with CCN from Siliguri. “This model can be applied throughout the country.  People will realise this is the way forward,” says Prabhoo, who is hopeful that more MSOs will want to get associated with SCOPE once they understand the model.

     
    “We don’t want LMOs from phase III and IV, to suffer the way we did. And so this set up,” he signs off.

  • MCOF conclave stresses on importance of broadband for LMOs

    MCOF conclave stresses on importance of broadband for LMOs

    MUMBAI:  It has been touted as one of the leading get together of the last mile owners (LMOs) in Maharashtra. The Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) National Conclave on Broadband and Cable (NCBC) 2014 saw its president Arvind Prabhoo put his best foot forward in trying to get the LMOs to buy into his vision of a digitised cable TV India where they are also prospering. Apart from formally launching Synergy Cable Operators Private Limited (SCOPE), the first Cable Virtual Networks Operator (CVNO), Prabhoo and a handful of industry vets and consultants, stressed on the importance of broadband and how LMOs could increase their business five-fold, using this tool.

     

    Prabhoo pointed out that number of active broadband subscribers in India is expected double in the next two to three years according to a Telecom Regulatory Authority of India report.  In Mumbai alone, the figure is expected to go up from the current 1.2 million to 4.5 million in the next couple of years. “Broadband will grow, and we need to utilize this opportunity,” Prabhoo said.

     

    Drawing comparisons with the US where 50 per cent of broadband services are provided by cable operators, he said, “We need to implement the same in India. As things stand, only a fraction of the broadband subscriber base is delivered by cable operators.”

     

    Apart from the emphasis on broadband, day one of NCBC 2014 saw heated debate over the existing three models i.e. MSO:LMO, HITS and the newly-minted CVNO, which seeks to provide white label cable TV services to smaller operators in phase III and phase IV.

     

    Presided over by indiantelevision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari, the session had all parties putting forth their points of view. The panel comprised Kulbhushan Puri of BR Cable Network, Atul Saraf of ABS Seven Star, Vynsley Fernandes of Castle Media, and Prabhoo.

     

    During the discussion, Wanvari expressed the view that the full rewards of digitisation have yet to trickle down to the broadcaster, MSO or LMO – as they viewed each other with suspicion, though things have improved in recent times. “There is a need for greater communication and understanding among the stakeholders,” said Wanvari. “The LMOs and MSOs need to understand that broadcasters are investing in content and they need to recoup that investment.  Broadcasters need to understand MSOs are investing in setting up infrastructure and that LMOs want a sustainable future. The cable ecosystem also needs to understand that broadband can be extremely rewarding as compared to simple video signals where subscribers tend to be wary of price increases.”

     

    To this, Prabhoo invited all stakeholders to come together to discuss issues and take the industry forward while benefitting everyone. “Proper constructive pricing model can be worked out if broadcasters, MSOs and LMOs discuss issues on the same platform,” he said.

     

    Fernandes, who is involved in the upcoming HITS project of the Hinduja Group, said, “Packaging of content should be in the hands of the LMOs. Additionally, the LMOs need to invest in set top boxes which they will deliver to their subscribers so that ownership stays with them. And this is what the HITS project is set to do.”

     

    Prabhoo said that while there will be areas covered by the CVNO in phase III and IV of DAS called Headend on the Ground (HOGS), there would be some covered by HITS (Headend In The Sky). “There could also be areas where HITS and HOGS can work together to take digitisation forward,” proposed Prabhoo.

     

     Saraf said the future of DAS phase III and IV lay in MPEG4 and not MPEG2 STBs that were currently being seeded by operators. On the issue of low ARPUs in phase I and II, he said, “ARPUs can go up only by introducing value added services like Video on Demand (VOD), Movie on Demand and YouTube. We need hybrid STBs, which can provide both cable and internet services.”

  • Hathway launches online & TV service, H-tube

    Hathway launches online & TV service, H-tube

    MUMBAI: Hathway has announced an exciting new service christened H-tube which will give TV viewers an opportunity to telecast their videos and watch themselves on TV.

     

    Customers can upload their videos on the H-tube website and thereafter, subject to quality checks, their videos will be telecast on the new service available to Hathway subscribers on their Hathway digital cable TV connection. Customers can upload amateur videos shot on mobile devices or professional videos and everyone has an opportunity to have their content telecast to Hathway’s customers.

     

    “H-tube is a part of our on-going endeavor to connect with our customers in numerous ways. User-generated content for TV is an untapped source, which we would like to access and give a platform for exhibition. We hope this unleashes the latent creativity of our customers.” said Hathway Cable and Datacom MD Jagdish Kumar. “This is a first of its kind service in the world which fully exploits the synergies of the Hathway Broadband and Cable service. We are confident that being watched by a potential viewer base of 50 million TV viewers will add to the appeal of the product”.

     

    Broadband business head Kunal Ramteke added “There is an inherent excitement for any viewer to watch himself on TV. The TV viewing behavior of customers is increasingly being shaped by technology. Our 50 Mbps Fiber Broadband service and our large TV viewership provide the perfect combination for true democratization of TV. H-tube is an exciting platform for budding artists, housewives, students to showcase their talent and our role is to help them discover their inner artiste.”

     

    The H-tube TV channel is available to Hathway TV viewers in Maharasthtra on channel 25 and will soon be extended to Hathway’s cable TV subscribers across the country. Apart from this, there will be different time slots telecasting genres like fashion, recipes, kids, celebrations, short-format episodes, travel, so viewers can share and enjoy viewing the content conveniently.  

     

    In the past, Hathway has launched channels like, Hathway CCC, Hathway movies and Hathway Music

     

    Hathway plans to launch many more channels covering genres like entertainment, music, movies, adventure and lifestyle.

  • Ravi Mansukhani to handle content business for IMCL associate Indusind Entertainment

    Ravi Mansukhani to handle content business for IMCL associate Indusind Entertainment

    MUMBAI:  For quite a while now, multi-system operator (MSO) IndusInd Media and Communications Limited (IMCL) has been focused on distribution though it started out with local content. However, the MSO has decided to revisit its core strength, with none other than former MD Ravi Mansukhani taking up the gauntlet.

     

    Ever since Ravi stepped down from his position in February, making way for Tony D’Silva, speculation has been rife about his next move. In the midst of all this, indiantelevision.com found out that he will be returning to the fold, albeit in a new role. “Digitisation has new content challenges and that content needs to be segmented,” Hinduja group sources say.  “He has played a crucial role in IMCL in the last decade, but prior to that, he was also in charge of content. So, he has experience in different spheres. Now, it is up to the promoters to utilize his services.”

     

    The Hinduja Group is looking at developing content as a major international vertical.

     

    Ravi meanwhile said, “Yes, I will be taking up the role. But nothing is finalized yet. The exact role still needs to be discussed,” before clarifying that there would be clarity on his new job profile only after a couple of more meetings.

     

    The Hinduja Media group , according to industry sources, is not only interested in localised content but also animation and some of this would be sourced from Indusind Entertainment.  If they are to be believed, Ravi may be involved with content related to animation and might be working closely with Ambika Hinduja. Further, the company may also be looking at setting up an animation facility with Ravi working on it.

     

    With the Hinduja group acquiring the license for its Headend In The Sky (HITS) project, and phase III and phase IV to be tapped by both the MSO and the HITS platform, will foraying into content help? “Content can do well, only if the distribution does,” said a source.

  • Viren Raheja’s reengineering drive at Hathway

    Viren Raheja’s reengineering drive at Hathway

    BALI: Viren Raheja is a man with a mission: to change the culture at India’s leading cable TV multi system operator Hathway Cable & Datacom. With eight million digital TV homes from a total of 11 million, the network has been regarded as one of the shining stars emerging out of India’s cable TV ecosystem. But it has lost some of that shine in recent times.

     

     Admits Raheja who is a director of the firm: “We are going through a challenging phase – turbulence in the cable TV space – life is challenging.”

     

     Raheja is using the changing climes in India’s fragmented cable TV ecosystem – which has been undergoing a government mandated digitization rollout – to re-engineer his firm. “The company – like most of the other MSOs – was rooted in a B2B mindset as most of the time we were dealing with LCOs,” he reveals. “Now we are working on changing the DNA of Hathway from B2B to B2C.  We have already changed the entire senior management with one that has more of a B2C mindset. You will see more of that happening with talent from the telecom being hired.”

     

    Speaking at the Media Partners Asia organized Asia Pacific Operators Summit in Bali, Raheja  revealed that Hathway has done better than most in digitizing and putting set top boxes in subscribers’ homes  with a 30 per cent marketshare nationally. 

     

    “Now the key challenge is monetizing, upscaling customers to HD services and getting subscribers to pay,” he said.  “Gross billing has happened in some places but we are mostly at net billing with the LCOs. Over six months we see the movement to net billing being completed in phase I areas and over 12 months in phase II.”

     

     Raheja pointed out that digitizing is leading to a new power equation being forged between LCOs and MSOs. “Over 12-18 months, this relationship will stabilize. The current revenue split between us and our LCOs in 40 per cent to us and 60 per cent for them.  We see that settling at 65 per cent for us and 35 per cent for the LCOs. Once that happens, we may then think about acquiring some of them.”

     

    He is clear that the next 12 months are going to see the MSO focus on developing local content, pushing HD services and also building up its broadband play.

     

    “HD will help us give a better viewing experience and also the customer will pay more and local content will help keep them engaged,” Raheja disclosed.

     

    “On the broadband front, today, 15-20 per cent of our revenue is coming in from broadband. I would like to see that going up to 35-40 per cent over the next three years. Our play includes giving world class broadband with DOCSIS 3.0 modems. For me getting a nice return from subscribers is more important. Hence, I will be open to losing a video subscriber to retain a broadband subscriber who pays a lot more.”

     

    He believes that all this will need a cash infusion of about $100-150 million, which he intends to raise through a mix of debt and equity dilution.

     

    No merger or acquisition is on the cards with any other multisystem operator – at least for now- he revealed. “Cable is about local operations…I am not sure a merger with DEN or anyone else will create something unique,” concluded Raheja.