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Category: iWorld

  • Datawind hopeful that inverted duty corrections will extend to computing devices

    Datawind hopeful that inverted duty corrections will extend to computing devices

    NEW DELHI: Datawind president and CEO Suneet Singh Tuli has expressed hope that corrections in the inverted duty structure is extended to laptops and computing devices in the budget this year.

    Tuli said correcting the inverted duty structure was an important step to boost handset manufacturing. 

    “The Union Budget 2016 expects to aim at growth of the economy and to raise the country’s profile as an investment destination,” he said.

    He added the year 2015 saw ‘double digit growth’ for both handset and tablet manufacturing due to the favorable duty structure and therefore hoped the government will make serious attempts to push for the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill to simplify the current indirect tax structure by doing away with the multiplicity of taxes. 

    He said the industry was “hopeful of a common GST compliance, which will be done by all kinds of businesses, whether manufacturers, service providers, traders etc. We hope that the GST rate is reasonable and in the range of three – five per cent.”

  • Datawind hopeful that inverted duty corrections will extend to computing devices

    Datawind hopeful that inverted duty corrections will extend to computing devices

    NEW DELHI: Datawind president and CEO Suneet Singh Tuli has expressed hope that corrections in the inverted duty structure is extended to laptops and computing devices in the budget this year.

    Tuli said correcting the inverted duty structure was an important step to boost handset manufacturing. 

    “The Union Budget 2016 expects to aim at growth of the economy and to raise the country’s profile as an investment destination,” he said.

    He added the year 2015 saw ‘double digit growth’ for both handset and tablet manufacturing due to the favorable duty structure and therefore hoped the government will make serious attempts to push for the Goods and Service Tax (GST) Bill to simplify the current indirect tax structure by doing away with the multiplicity of taxes. 

    He said the industry was “hopeful of a common GST compliance, which will be done by all kinds of businesses, whether manufacturers, service providers, traders etc. We hope that the GST rate is reasonable and in the range of three – five per cent.”

  • Viacom18 to launch VOOT VOD service in April; firms up content pipeline

    Viacom18 to launch VOOT VOD service in April; firms up content pipeline

    MUMBAI: The latest addition to the growing digital family in India, Viacom18’s new digital video-on-demand (VOD) platform – VOOT is all set to launch its service in the first week of April armed with a slew of shows from various content houses.

    According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, among the few production companies that Viacom18 has roped in to produce original content for VOOT are Endemol Shine India, Saurabh Tiwari Films, Colosceum Media, Frames Production Company, Sunshine Production, Shakutantalam Telefilms and Bodhi Tree.

    Unlike Netflix’s subscription based revenue model, VOOT will follow the advertising based VOD model, wherein content will be offered free for subscribers.

    When asked to comment on VOOT’s decision to go for the ad based VOD model, a senior media planner on condition of anonymity says, “It’s very early to predict anything. Getting an advertising pipeline takes time. Initially they will be making money out of advertising and it will be limited to certain brands, which they already have in their portfolio and slowly they will be able to expand in the market.”

    Speaking on their show for VOOT, Frames Production co-founder Ranjeet Thakur says, “Yes, Frames is producing show for VOOT called Soadies. It’s a shows based on how Roadies has influenced families and their behaviour.”

    Soadeis will be an eight-episodic story of 20-25 minutes duration.

    According to information available, the per episode production cost of Soadies is said to be between Rs 5-6 lakh. 

    Sudhir Sharma’s Sunshine Production is also in the process of producing two shows for VOOT. Though production is in its early stages, the production house has begun casting for one of the shows, which will comprise four episodes.

    Additionally, Colosceum Media will be producing a dating reality show for the VOOT platform.

    VOOT’s launch comes at a time when Netflix has already made a big bang entry into India, following the likes of Star India’s Hotstar, Sony Pictures Networks India’s Sony Liv, Zee Enterprises’ dittoTV, Eros International’s ErosNow and HOOQ amongst others. With a handful of more players like Balaji Telefilm’s Alt Digital and Vuclip poised to enter the space, the OTT content production space is likely to get a shot in the arm.

  • Viacom18 to launch VOOT VOD service in April; firms up content pipeline

    Viacom18 to launch VOOT VOD service in April; firms up content pipeline

    MUMBAI: The latest addition to the growing digital family in India, Viacom18’s new digital video-on-demand (VOD) platform – VOOT is all set to launch its service in the first week of April armed with a slew of shows from various content houses.

    According to information available with Indiantelevision.com, among the few production companies that Viacom18 has roped in to produce original content for VOOT are Endemol Shine India, Saurabh Tiwari Films, Colosceum Media, Frames Production Company, Sunshine Production, Shakutantalam Telefilms and Bodhi Tree.

    Unlike Netflix’s subscription based revenue model, VOOT will follow the advertising based VOD model, wherein content will be offered free for subscribers.

    When asked to comment on VOOT’s decision to go for the ad based VOD model, a senior media planner on condition of anonymity says, “It’s very early to predict anything. Getting an advertising pipeline takes time. Initially they will be making money out of advertising and it will be limited to certain brands, which they already have in their portfolio and slowly they will be able to expand in the market.”

    Speaking on their show for VOOT, Frames Production co-founder Ranjeet Thakur says, “Yes, Frames is producing show for VOOT called Soadies. It’s a shows based on how Roadies has influenced families and their behaviour.”

    Soadeis will be an eight-episodic story of 20-25 minutes duration.

    According to information available, the per episode production cost of Soadies is said to be between Rs 5-6 lakh. 

    Sudhir Sharma’s Sunshine Production is also in the process of producing two shows for VOOT. Though production is in its early stages, the production house has begun casting for one of the shows, which will comprise four episodes.

    Additionally, Colosceum Media will be producing a dating reality show for the VOOT platform.

    VOOT’s launch comes at a time when Netflix has already made a big bang entry into India, following the likes of Star India’s Hotstar, Sony Pictures Networks India’s Sony Liv, Zee Enterprises’ dittoTV, Eros International’s ErosNow and HOOQ amongst others. With a handful of more players like Balaji Telefilm’s Alt Digital and Vuclip poised to enter the space, the OTT content production space is likely to get a shot in the arm.

  • NOFN being revamped to improve broadband connectivity, Rs 110,000 crore earned from spectrum auctions: Mukherjee

    NOFN being revamped to improve broadband connectivity, Rs 110,000 crore earned from spectrum auctions: Mukherjee

    NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee today said the architecture and design of the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) is being revamped to rapidly take broadband connectivity to Indian villages under Bharat Net.

    In his address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first day of the Budget Session, the President said, “Transparent and efficient auction of spectrum has fetched highest ever price of about Rupees one lakh ten thousand crore.”

    He said policies like Spectrum trading and sharing have been finalised for optimum utilisation of resources.

    Mukherjee added that the recent interventions and subsequent rationalisation of duty structure in mobile handset manufacturing industry has led to near doubling of mobile handset production in the current year.

    According to Mukherjee, setting up world-class infrastructure for Electronics manufacturing across the country remains a priority for the Government. As many as 29 Electronic Manufacturing Clusters are under development.

    The country recorded the highest ever software exports during 2015. “By spreading the network of Common Service Centers and setting up BPOs in small towns and linking land record modernization with the use of space technology, my Government is taking the benefits of Digital India to common citizens. The Digital India Programme will give a big boost to citizen empowerment and knowledge economy,” the President added.

    Building upon the success over the past year, the Government’s endeavour is to scale new heights in Space. “Focus will be on completing the constellation of the Indian navigational satellites in 2016 to cater to indigenous navigation and location-based services,” Mukherjee said.

    Noting that “radio has once again emerged as the people’s medium,“ Mukherjee said the good response to the successful and transparent bidding for the first batch of private FM Radio for phase III “augurs well for the medium.”

    He noted that establishment of new radio stations has received a fresh impetus. The bidding of the first batch of private FM Radio for phase III comprised 135 channels in 69 cities.

    The Government had taken several measures to improve the quality of governance. People’s participation in policy making through initiatives like MyGov had taken firm roots, he said, adding that the Government had taken up an initiative for providing 500 e-governance services through Public Private-Partnership in 12 states of the country.

    Noting that youth are the future of the country, Mukherjee said ensuring Yuvaon ko Rojgaar through massive employment generation is a top goal for the Government. “We are driving job creation through an integrated set of initiatives including Make in India, Start up India, Mudra, Skill India, etc.”

    A series of reforms have been initiated to help convert job seekers into job creators. The Government has launched the Start-Up India campaign, which would deepen, expand and support the innovation eco system in the country.

    The Government’s innovative initiatives have helped India jump up 12 places in the latest rankings by the World Bank on Ease of Doing Business. “Notably, the Make in India initiative has achieved a 39 per cent increase in FDI inflow despite an adverse global investment climate.”

    Noting that sports is the best way to Swasth India, he said the Government “successfully hosted the 12th South Asian Games from 5 to 16 February, 2016 at Guwahati and Shillong in which more than 3500 sportspersons from all the SAARC countries participated. The games were the biggest ever sporting event in North East India.”

  • NOFN being revamped to improve broadband connectivity, Rs 110,000 crore earned from spectrum auctions: Mukherjee

    NOFN being revamped to improve broadband connectivity, Rs 110,000 crore earned from spectrum auctions: Mukherjee

    NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee today said the architecture and design of the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) is being revamped to rapidly take broadband connectivity to Indian villages under Bharat Net.

    In his address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first day of the Budget Session, the President said, “Transparent and efficient auction of spectrum has fetched highest ever price of about Rupees one lakh ten thousand crore.”

    He said policies like Spectrum trading and sharing have been finalised for optimum utilisation of resources.

    Mukherjee added that the recent interventions and subsequent rationalisation of duty structure in mobile handset manufacturing industry has led to near doubling of mobile handset production in the current year.

    According to Mukherjee, setting up world-class infrastructure for Electronics manufacturing across the country remains a priority for the Government. As many as 29 Electronic Manufacturing Clusters are under development.

    The country recorded the highest ever software exports during 2015. “By spreading the network of Common Service Centers and setting up BPOs in small towns and linking land record modernization with the use of space technology, my Government is taking the benefits of Digital India to common citizens. The Digital India Programme will give a big boost to citizen empowerment and knowledge economy,” the President added.

    Building upon the success over the past year, the Government’s endeavour is to scale new heights in Space. “Focus will be on completing the constellation of the Indian navigational satellites in 2016 to cater to indigenous navigation and location-based services,” Mukherjee said.

    Noting that “radio has once again emerged as the people’s medium,“ Mukherjee said the good response to the successful and transparent bidding for the first batch of private FM Radio for phase III “augurs well for the medium.”

    He noted that establishment of new radio stations has received a fresh impetus. The bidding of the first batch of private FM Radio for phase III comprised 135 channels in 69 cities.

    The Government had taken several measures to improve the quality of governance. People’s participation in policy making through initiatives like MyGov had taken firm roots, he said, adding that the Government had taken up an initiative for providing 500 e-governance services through Public Private-Partnership in 12 states of the country.

    Noting that youth are the future of the country, Mukherjee said ensuring Yuvaon ko Rojgaar through massive employment generation is a top goal for the Government. “We are driving job creation through an integrated set of initiatives including Make in India, Start up India, Mudra, Skill India, etc.”

    A series of reforms have been initiated to help convert job seekers into job creators. The Government has launched the Start-Up India campaign, which would deepen, expand and support the innovation eco system in the country.

    The Government’s innovative initiatives have helped India jump up 12 places in the latest rankings by the World Bank on Ease of Doing Business. “Notably, the Make in India initiative has achieved a 39 per cent increase in FDI inflow despite an adverse global investment climate.”

    Noting that sports is the best way to Swasth India, he said the Government “successfully hosted the 12th South Asian Games from 5 to 16 February, 2016 at Guwahati and Shillong in which more than 3500 sportspersons from all the SAARC countries participated. The games were the biggest ever sporting event in North East India.”

  • Times Internet acquires digital video rights of ICC Events for US & Canada

    Times Internet acquires digital video rights of ICC Events for US & Canada

    MUMBAI: Times Internet owned Cricbuzz.com has become the exclusive licensee for digital video clip rights for United States and Canada for all ICC events for a period of four years. 

    The digital rights for all events scheduled to take place between 2016 and 2019, including the ICC World Twenty20 which begins in March in India will vest with Cricbuzz.com. 

    The four-year deal includes seven ICC events starting with the ICC World Twenty20 2016.

    The deal gives Times Internet exclusive rights to deliver a comprehensive video package that includes video clips of pre-match, in-match and post-match coverage.

    In the first agreement of this nature, the ICC is providing in-match video clips to digital licensees and Times Internet will have exclusive access to six minutes’ video clips from every hour of match coverage starting with the first ball and ending with the winning moment.

    As the exclusive video clips licensee for these two North American markets, Times Internet will also get access to key moments from all matches in the ICC archive.

    Times Internet Limited’s newly acquired digital clips rights in the United States and Canada will supplement Cricbuzz.com’s existing live coverage in the form of text, scorecard and infographics across its digital platforms.

    “North America has traditionally been our largest audience base outside of India and we are thrilled to be able to offer an enhanced experience of the ICC events to cricket fans across that region with near-live in-match clips. We are excited to partner with the ICC to grow the sport in the region through our coverage of the premier competitions in the sport of cricket,” said Times Internet CEO Satyan Gajwani.

    The other events included in the package are ICC Champions Trophy 2017, ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2018, ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

  • Times Internet acquires digital video rights of ICC Events for US & Canada

    Times Internet acquires digital video rights of ICC Events for US & Canada

    MUMBAI: Times Internet owned Cricbuzz.com has become the exclusive licensee for digital video clip rights for United States and Canada for all ICC events for a period of four years. 

    The digital rights for all events scheduled to take place between 2016 and 2019, including the ICC World Twenty20 which begins in March in India will vest with Cricbuzz.com. 

    The four-year deal includes seven ICC events starting with the ICC World Twenty20 2016.

    The deal gives Times Internet exclusive rights to deliver a comprehensive video package that includes video clips of pre-match, in-match and post-match coverage.

    In the first agreement of this nature, the ICC is providing in-match video clips to digital licensees and Times Internet will have exclusive access to six minutes’ video clips from every hour of match coverage starting with the first ball and ending with the winning moment.

    As the exclusive video clips licensee for these two North American markets, Times Internet will also get access to key moments from all matches in the ICC archive.

    Times Internet Limited’s newly acquired digital clips rights in the United States and Canada will supplement Cricbuzz.com’s existing live coverage in the form of text, scorecard and infographics across its digital platforms.

    “North America has traditionally been our largest audience base outside of India and we are thrilled to be able to offer an enhanced experience of the ICC events to cricket fans across that region with near-live in-match clips. We are excited to partner with the ICC to grow the sport in the region through our coverage of the premier competitions in the sport of cricket,” said Times Internet CEO Satyan Gajwani.

    The other events included in the package are ICC Champions Trophy 2017, ICC Women’s World Cup 2017, ICC U19 Cricket World Cup 2018, ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2018, ICC Women’s World Twenty20 2018 and ICC Cricket World Cup 2019.

  • November 2015: ACT, Airtel lead subscriber additions for wireline broadband in India

    November 2015: ACT, Airtel lead subscriber additions for wireline broadband in India

    BENGALURU: Until 30 October, 2015 (Oct-15), ACT Broadband was leading in wireline broadband internet subscriber additions in India. November 2015 numbers released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) indicate that as on 30 November, 2015 (Nov-15), both ACT and Bharti Airtel have added 2.3 lakh subscribers (subject to a granularity of 10,000) each in the period between 31 December, 2014, hence 1 January, 2015 (Dec-14,) and Nov-15. In terms of wireline internet subscription numbers, Airtel had 16.4 lakh subscribers as on Nov-15, almost double the 8.4 lakh subscribers that ACT Broadband had.

    The top five players in India in the wireline broadband internet space in pecking order are the public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), public sector Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited (ACT, ACT Broadband) and You Broadband (You BB). Among these five, only BSNL and Airtel can be termed national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time, to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat the NCR region Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. 

    Overall, November 2015 saw 140,000 wireline subscriber additions, of which 30,000 were added by Airtel and 20,000 by ACT; 10,000 by You Broadband, while the public sector behemoth BSNL saw a decline of 10,000 subscribers. MTNL did not have any new additions, taking the contribution of the top five wireline broadband players to 50,000 (or 35.57 per cent of overall additions) during Nov-15.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
    (2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.47 million (4.7 lakh) subscribers for You BB for July-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages perforce have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.
    (3) Industry sources say that TRAI numbers in the case of ACT for May-2015 are incorrect at 0.66 million and the correct number would be 0.693 million. This report considers the number as 6.93 lakh or 0.693 million.
    (4) MSOs have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.
    (5) Ortel’s numbers for Q3-2015 have been estimated from the numbers released by it for Q1-2015, Q2-2015, Q4-2015 and FY-2015.
    (6) The term ‘operating revenue’ in this report indicates ‘total income from operations.’

    Please refer to Fig 1 below. 

    Over an 11 month period, the subscriber numbers share of the top five wired broadband players in the country has reduced from 88.45 per cent from Dec-14 to 85.56 per cent as on Nov-15. During the same period All India wireline internet subscriber base has grown 7.11 per cent from 153.2 lakh to 164.1 lakh.

    The average all India subscriber growth rate per month for the period 1 January, 2015 to 30 November, 2015 was 0.62 per cent. During the period Dec-14 to May-15, the maximum growth was 0.46 per cent in Feb-15 with 70,000 net new broadband connections. Apr-15 saw nil growth rate and witnessed a decline in growth rate of 0.07 per cent in subscribers in the case of the top five wireline players in India. The average subscriber growth rate in the first five month period of the previous year was 0.31 per cent per month. The average subscriber growth during the next six month period including June-15 until Nov-15 was 0.89 per cent, with the highest in Aug-15 at 1.01 per cent. Please refer to Fig 1A below. Overall, the all India subscriber base has been growing at a faster pace than growth rate of the subscriber base of the top five wireline internet service providers in India.

    Fig 2 below indicates the subscriber details of the top five wired broadband internet service providers. While ACT has shown the highest growth during the period in this report, BSNL has had the steepest fall in subscription numbers during the first 11 month period of calendar year 2015. ACT’s share of All India wireline broadband internet subscribers has increased from 3.98 per cent at the start of the year to 5.12 per cent until Nov-15, while BSNL’s share has declined from 65.14 per cent in Dec-14 to 60.51 per cent in Nov-15. By its very stagnancy, MTNL’s share of All India wireline broadband internet subscribers has reduced from 7.38 per cent to 6.89 per cent during the same period. Airtel’s share has increased from 9.20 per cent to 9.99 per cent, while You BB’s share has increased from 2.74 per cent to 3.05 per cent during the same period.

    As is obvious from Fig 1A above, the share of new subscriber additions by the top five players has been reducing. MSOs in India have started providing internet services on the back of their cable networks using Docsis technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit YoY increase in internet subscribers and revenue. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO, whose results are available in the public domain for the quarter ended 31 December, 2016 (Q3-2016 current quarter) have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

    In this report, let us look at how these television cable industry players have performed in the broadband space in Q3-2016. The four are: Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited (Hathway), Den Networks Ltd (Den), Siti Cable Network Limited (Siti Cable), and the regional player Ortel Communications Limited (Ortel).

    Hathway’s consolidated broadband subscribers increased by 50,000 or 9.31 per cent more QoQ, in Q3-2015 to 5.67 lakh. Hathway’s Broadband subscription revenue in Q3-2016 increased 53.4 per cent YoY to Rs 78.7 crore as compared to Rs 57.7 crore and increased 9.5 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 57.7 crore. Hathway’s broadband standalone ARPUs increased 3.8 per cent QoQ from Rs 658 to Rs 683.

    Siti Cable Broadband revenue in the current quarter almost doubled (grew 99 per cent) at Rs 13.9 crore (3.8 per cent of OPREV) as compared to Rs 7 crore (3.2 per cent of OPREV) in Q3-2015 and increased 49.5 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 9.3 crore (four per cent of OPREV). Broadband subscribers in the current quarter increased 17 per cent to 1,07,000 from 91,450 in Q2-2016.

    Den has also ramped up its broadband subscribers by 33.3 per cent to 76,000 in the current quarter from 57,000 in the immediate trailing quarter. The company’s broadband segment revenue increased by over five times YoY (5.5 times) at Rs 11.96 crore (3.4 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 2.17 crore (0.8 per cent of TIO) in corresponding prior year quarter and increased 58 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 8.23 crore (three per cent of TIO). The segment’s YoY operating loss increased to Rs 19.57 crore as compared to Rs 12.37 crore, but reduced QoQ as compared to Rs 23.07 crore. The company says that broadband ARPU has declined by Rs 10 in the current quarter to Rs 760 from Rs 770 in the previous quarter.

    Den’s Broadband Post Activation EBIDTA in Q3-2016 was negative Rs 16 crore as compared to the negative Rs 11 crore in Q3-2015 and negative Rs 20 crore in Q2-2016.

    Ortel’s broadband segment reported 16.3 per cent higher revenue at Rs 8.28 crore as compared to Rs 7.12 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter and 1.7 per cent more than the Rs 8.14 crore in Q2-2016. The broadband segment reported an operating profit of Rs 4.78 crore in the current quarter as compared to Rs 4.52 crore in Q3-2015 and 9.1 per cent higher than the Rs 438 crore in Q2-2016.

    Ortel’s broadband customers in the current quarter grew 16.2 per cent YoY to 67,709 as compared to 58,277 and grew 6.4 per cent QoQ as compared to 63,663. Broadband ARPU in Q3-2016 was higher at Rs 396, in Q3-2015 it was Rs 394 and in Rs Q2-2016 it was Rs 395.

  • November 2015: ACT, Airtel lead subscriber additions for wireline broadband in India

    November 2015: ACT, Airtel lead subscriber additions for wireline broadband in India

    BENGALURU: Until 30 October, 2015 (Oct-15), ACT Broadband was leading in wireline broadband internet subscriber additions in India. November 2015 numbers released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) indicate that as on 30 November, 2015 (Nov-15), both ACT and Bharti Airtel have added 2.3 lakh subscribers (subject to a granularity of 10,000) each in the period between 31 December, 2014, hence 1 January, 2015 (Dec-14,) and Nov-15. In terms of wireline internet subscription numbers, Airtel had 16.4 lakh subscribers as on Nov-15, almost double the 8.4 lakh subscribers that ACT Broadband had.

    The top five players in India in the wireline broadband internet space in pecking order are the public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), public sector Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited (ACT, ACT Broadband) and You Broadband (You BB). Among these five, only BSNL and Airtel can be termed national players at present. BSNL, Airtel and MTNL also provide wireline and mobile services while Airtel also has a direct to home (DTH) segment. ACT started off as an MSO with operations concentrated in a few major cities and towns located mainly in South India. It started internet services (ACT Broadband) a little later and has grown its broadband internet subscriber base over time, to the extent that it is quite likely the biggest private wireline broadband player in South India. You BB offers broadband operations in a few cities in Maharashtra, Gujarat the NCR region Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. 

    Overall, November 2015 saw 140,000 wireline subscriber additions, of which 30,000 were added by Airtel and 20,000 by ACT; 10,000 by You Broadband, while the public sector behemoth BSNL saw a decline of 10,000 subscribers. MTNL did not have any new additions, taking the contribution of the top five wireline broadband players to 50,000 (or 35.57 per cent of overall additions) during Nov-15.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
    (2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to 2 decimal places. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.47 million (4.7 lakh) subscribers for You BB for July-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages perforce have been mentioned up to two decimal places, the accuracy may vary, depending upon the exact number.
    (3) Industry sources say that TRAI numbers in the case of ACT for May-2015 are incorrect at 0.66 million and the correct number would be 0.693 million. This report considers the number as 6.93 lakh or 0.693 million.
    (4) MSOs have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger. Hathway is a case in point.
    (5) Ortel’s numbers for Q3-2015 have been estimated from the numbers released by it for Q1-2015, Q2-2015, Q4-2015 and FY-2015.
    (6) The term ‘operating revenue’ in this report indicates ‘total income from operations.’

    Please refer to Fig 1 below. 

    Over an 11 month period, the subscriber numbers share of the top five wired broadband players in the country has reduced from 88.45 per cent from Dec-14 to 85.56 per cent as on Nov-15. During the same period All India wireline internet subscriber base has grown 7.11 per cent from 153.2 lakh to 164.1 lakh.

    The average all India subscriber growth rate per month for the period 1 January, 2015 to 30 November, 2015 was 0.62 per cent. During the period Dec-14 to May-15, the maximum growth was 0.46 per cent in Feb-15 with 70,000 net new broadband connections. Apr-15 saw nil growth rate and witnessed a decline in growth rate of 0.07 per cent in subscribers in the case of the top five wireline players in India. The average subscriber growth rate in the first five month period of the previous year was 0.31 per cent per month. The average subscriber growth during the next six month period including June-15 until Nov-15 was 0.89 per cent, with the highest in Aug-15 at 1.01 per cent. Please refer to Fig 1A below. Overall, the all India subscriber base has been growing at a faster pace than growth rate of the subscriber base of the top five wireline internet service providers in India.

    Fig 2 below indicates the subscriber details of the top five wired broadband internet service providers. While ACT has shown the highest growth during the period in this report, BSNL has had the steepest fall in subscription numbers during the first 11 month period of calendar year 2015. ACT’s share of All India wireline broadband internet subscribers has increased from 3.98 per cent at the start of the year to 5.12 per cent until Nov-15, while BSNL’s share has declined from 65.14 per cent in Dec-14 to 60.51 per cent in Nov-15. By its very stagnancy, MTNL’s share of All India wireline broadband internet subscribers has reduced from 7.38 per cent to 6.89 per cent during the same period. Airtel’s share has increased from 9.20 per cent to 9.99 per cent, while You BB’s share has increased from 2.74 per cent to 3.05 per cent during the same period.

    As is obvious from Fig 1A above, the share of new subscriber additions by the top five players has been reducing. MSOs in India have started providing internet services on the back of their cable networks using Docsis technology. In general, they have started reporting double digit YoY increase in internet subscribers and revenue. Three of the major MSOs and a regional MSO, whose results are available in the public domain for the quarter ended 31 December, 2016 (Q3-2016 current quarter) have been showing steady growth in their broadband segment over the past few quarters.

    In this report, let us look at how these television cable industry players have performed in the broadband space in Q3-2016. The four are: Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited (Hathway), Den Networks Ltd (Den), Siti Cable Network Limited (Siti Cable), and the regional player Ortel Communications Limited (Ortel).

    Hathway’s consolidated broadband subscribers increased by 50,000 or 9.31 per cent more QoQ, in Q3-2015 to 5.67 lakh. Hathway’s Broadband subscription revenue in Q3-2016 increased 53.4 per cent YoY to Rs 78.7 crore as compared to Rs 57.7 crore and increased 9.5 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 57.7 crore. Hathway’s broadband standalone ARPUs increased 3.8 per cent QoQ from Rs 658 to Rs 683.

    Siti Cable Broadband revenue in the current quarter almost doubled (grew 99 per cent) at Rs 13.9 crore (3.8 per cent of OPREV) as compared to Rs 7 crore (3.2 per cent of OPREV) in Q3-2015 and increased 49.5 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 9.3 crore (four per cent of OPREV). Broadband subscribers in the current quarter increased 17 per cent to 1,07,000 from 91,450 in Q2-2016.

    Den has also ramped up its broadband subscribers by 33.3 per cent to 76,000 in the current quarter from 57,000 in the immediate trailing quarter. The company’s broadband segment revenue increased by over five times YoY (5.5 times) at Rs 11.96 crore (3.4 per cent of TIO) as compared to Rs 2.17 crore (0.8 per cent of TIO) in corresponding prior year quarter and increased 58 per cent QoQ as compared to Rs 8.23 crore (three per cent of TIO). The segment’s YoY operating loss increased to Rs 19.57 crore as compared to Rs 12.37 crore, but reduced QoQ as compared to Rs 23.07 crore. The company says that broadband ARPU has declined by Rs 10 in the current quarter to Rs 760 from Rs 770 in the previous quarter.

    Den’s Broadband Post Activation EBIDTA in Q3-2016 was negative Rs 16 crore as compared to the negative Rs 11 crore in Q3-2015 and negative Rs 20 crore in Q2-2016.

    Ortel’s broadband segment reported 16.3 per cent higher revenue at Rs 8.28 crore as compared to Rs 7.12 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter and 1.7 per cent more than the Rs 8.14 crore in Q2-2016. The broadband segment reported an operating profit of Rs 4.78 crore in the current quarter as compared to Rs 4.52 crore in Q3-2015 and 9.1 per cent higher than the Rs 438 crore in Q2-2016.

    Ortel’s broadband customers in the current quarter grew 16.2 per cent YoY to 67,709 as compared to 58,277 and grew 6.4 per cent QoQ as compared to 63,663. Broadband ARPU in Q3-2016 was higher at Rs 396, in Q3-2015 it was Rs 394 and in Rs Q2-2016 it was Rs 395.