Cable TV

Cable TV can be regulated only by competition: Baijal

Published

20 years ago

October 15, 2005

MUMBAI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) chairman Pradip Baijal is keen to have competition in the cable TV sector. And he feels it is direct-to-home (DTH) and IPTV operators who can set the field for that.

“The cable TV sector is a very difficult area. The only way to regulate it is to bring in competition. Only DTH and IPTV when they come in, can make it happen,” he said on the sidelines of a telecom and broadband summit.

Unified licensing is a step forward but there is no agreement among all the stakeholders. Unlike telecom companies, companies, cable operators do not support unified licensing. “But it is a kind of converged licence that can lead to explosive growth. Unless DTH and IPTV come in aggressively, the entire game will not change. Cable TV will continue as it is,” Baijal said. He was delivering the valedictory adddress today at the Telecom and Broadband Summit 2005, organised by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

India is the only country in the world where there are more cable TV than fixed line subscribers. Cable TV, in fact, has 1.5 times more connections. “There is a wide market out there which is yet to be explored. Competition can only drive this,” he said.

Broadband is growing at a snail’s pace in India. There are almost 47 million last mile copper lines of which 30-35 million are broadband capable. Though the government has set an aggressive target of three million broadband connections this year, we have just achieved .2 million with the incumbent and .3 million with the carriers. By the end of the year, we will have .7 million, way below the plan. “Broadband and rural telephony are not growing. Unless a critical mass comes in, broadband can’t grow,” he said.

Though prices have fallen, the broadband users haven’t grown. The reason for this, Baijal says, is lack of competition. It is important that fibre is priced properly. But the main incumbent – VSNL- is not prepared to share that fibre, thinking it is a goldmine. The incumbent has 70 per cent of the broadband market.

There is an explosive growth in the urban telecom sector but the challenge is to speed up teledensity in the rural areas. Rural broadband has succeeded with projects like e-Chaupal. “If that connection can be given to telephony and IPTV, there is huge growth potential for the telecom and broadband sector,” Baijal said.

Teledensity in the rural area was less than two per cent, which could go up to three per cent next year, while it was 32 per cent in the urban areas. Though teledensity is still low at 10-11 per cent in this, it is growing fast in urban areas. “In Mumbai it is 55 per cent while teledensity in Delhi is 45 per cent. The rural area, which is guided by the government sector, is the problem,” he said.
The answer is to install mobile towers and facilitate quick entry into mobile telephony in the rural areas. This would require an investment of Rs 90 billion from the government. Otherwise, the fund requirement would be Rs 300-400 billion to achieve four per cent teledensity in rural areas by 2010.

“The mobile tower has not reached the rural areas. That is why there is no growth. If this policy continues, this will bring disaster to the telecom sector,” Baijal said.

Rural India needs mobile telephony rather than pushing fixed lines through subsidies which can’t be sustainable. “Mobile coverage in India is just 20 per cent. There is an instrument available to increase teledensity both in the urban and rural areas,” Baijal said.

Related Topics:Baijal cable TV competition regulated

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Cable TV

Den Networks Q3 profit steady despite revenue pressure

Published

2 months ago

January 19, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: When margins wobble, liquidity talks and in Q3 FY25-26, cash did most of the talking. Den Networks Limited closed the December quarter with consolidated revenue of Rs.251 crore, marginally higher than the previous quarter but down 4 per cent year-on-year, even as profitability stayed resilient on the back of strong cash reserves and disciplined cost control.

Subscription income softened to Rs.98 crore, slipping 3 per cent sequentially and 14 per cent from last year, while placement and marketing income offered some cheer, rising 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs.148 crore. Total costs climbed faster than revenue, up 7 per cent QoQ to Rs.238 crore, driven largely by higher content costs and operating expenses. As a result, EBITDA dropped sharply to Rs.13 crore from Rs.19 crore in Q2 and Rs.28 crore a year ago, pulling margins down to 5 per cent.

Yet, the bottom line refused to blink. Profit after tax stood at Rs.40 crore, up 15 per cent sequentially and only marginally lower than last year’s Rs.42 crore. A healthy Rs.57 crore in other income helped cushion operating pressure, keeping profit before tax at Rs.48 crore, broadly stable quarter-on-quarter despite the tougher cost environment.

The real headline-grabber, however, sits on the balance sheet. The company remains debt-free, with cash and cash equivalents swelling to Rs.3,279 crore as of December 31, 2025. Net worth rose to Rs.3,748 crore, while online collections accounted for 97 per cent of total receipts, underscoring strong cash discipline across operations, including subsidiaries.

In short, while Q3 showed signs of operating strain, the financial backbone remains solid. With zero gross debt, steady profits and a formidable cash war chest, the company enters the next quarter with flexibility firmly on its side proving that in uncertain markets, balance sheet strength can be the best growth strategy.

Cable TV

Plugging along as Hathway tunes in steady profits this quarter

Published

2 months ago

January 17, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: In a quarter where staying connected mattered more than moving fast, Hathway Cable and Datacom kept its signal steady. The cable and broadband major reported a net profit of Rs 21.7 crore for the December 2025 quarter, marking a clear improvement from Rs 13.6 crore a year earlier, even as pressures persisted in parts of its operating portfolio.

For the quarter ended December 31, 2025, revenue from operations stood largely flat at Rs 536.6 crore, compared with Rs 511.2 crore in the same period last year. Including other income of Rs 21.1 crore, total income rose to Rs 557.7 crore, reflecting incremental gains despite a competitive media and connectivity landscape.

Profitability improved on the back of disciplined cost control and higher contribution from associates. Profit before tax increased to Rs 28.2 crore, up from Rs 19.1 crore in Q3 FY25, aided by Rs 3.9 crore in share of profit from associates and joint ventures. After tax, earnings for the quarter climbed nearly 60 per cent year-on-year.

Over the nine months ended December 31, 2025, Hathway reported a net profit of Rs 71 crore, compared with Rs 57.7 crore in the corresponding period last year. Total income for the nine months came in at Rs 1,677.3 crore, up from Rs 1,599.8 crore, while profit before tax rose to Rs 94.7 crore from Rs 84.2 crore.

A closer look at the segments shows a familiar split story. The cable television business remained under pressure, reporting a segment loss of Rs 11.4 crore for the quarter, though this narrowed sharply from the Rs 16.6 crore loss seen a year ago. In contrast, the broadband business returned to the black, delivering a modest but positive contribution of Rs 4.2 crore, helped by associate income. Dealing in securities continued to be a bright spot, generating Rs 14.7 crore in quarterly profits.

Costs stayed broadly contained. Pay channel costs, the single largest expense, rose to Rs 287.4 crore, while depreciation and amortisation stood at Rs 74 crore. Finance costs remained negligible at Rs 0.2 crore, keeping leverage risks in check.

Hathway’s earnings per share for the quarter improved to Rs 0.12, up from Rs 0.08 a year ago. The company maintained a strong balance sheet, with total assets of Rs 5,302.4 crore and total liabilities of Rs 848.9 crore as of December 31, 2025.

While structural challenges persist in the traditional cable business, the numbers suggest Hathway is slowly recalibrating its mix trimming losses where needed, leaning on associate income, and keeping the broadband engine ticking. For now, the company may not be racing ahead, but it is clearly staying tuned in to profitability.

Cable TV

Signal drop Tejas Networks’ numbers stay patchy in a volatile quarter

Published

2 months ago

January 10, 2026

indiantelevision.com Team

MUMBAI: In telecom, even the strongest signals face interference and Tejas Networks Limited’s latest numbers show just how noisy the airwaves remain. The Tata Group-backed networking firm reported unaudited standalone revenue of Rs 305.72 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, up sequentially from Rs 261.37 crore in the September quarter, but sharply lower compared with the Rs 2,642.05 crore clocked in the year-ago period. The topline recovery, however, was overshadowed by a pre-tax loss of Rs 303.20 crore, widening from a Rs 473.03 crore loss in the previous quarter, and reversing a Rs 211.06 crore profit reported in the December 2024 quarter.

After tax, the company posted a loss of Rs 196.89 crore for Q3 FY26, compared with a loss of Rs 307.17 crore in Q2 FY26 and a profit of Rs 165.42 crore a year earlier. For the nine months ended December 31, 2025, Tejas Networks reported revenue of Rs 769.02 crore and a loss after tax of Rs 697.97 crore, a sharp swing from a Rs 512.67 crore profit in the corresponding nine-month period last year. The numbers reflect a year marked by execution challenges rather than demand collapse.

Costs remained the dominant spoiler. Total expenses for the December quarter stood at Rs 616.50 crore, driven by elevated material costs, employee expenses and provisioning. The company also flagged several one-offs and adjustments: a Rs 9.85 crore provision linked to the implementation of new labour codes, ₹24.35 crore in warranty provisions, and reversals related to inventory obsolescence. Earlier quarters had already absorbed heavy charges tied to contract manufacturing losses, design changes and write-downs, the hangover from which continues to weigh on profitability.

Tejas reiterated that it operates as a single reportable segment focused on telecom and data networking products and services, offering little insulation from sector-wide volatility. While revenue momentum has stabilised sequentially, the contrast with the previous financial year remains stark. For context, the company closed FY25 with audited standalone revenue of Rs 8,915.73 crore and a profit after tax of Rs 450.66 crore, underscoring how sharply the operating environment has shifted in FY26.

The results were reviewed by the audit committee and approved by the board on January 9, 2026, but they leave investors with a familiar question: when does recovery turn structural rather than episodic? For now, Tejas Networks appears to be in reset mode, balancing execution clean-up with cost discipline. In a sector where margins can be as fragile as fibre strands, the next few quarters will matter as much as the signals the company sends to the market.