GTPL Hathway beams nationwide with satellite play

AHMEDABAD:  GTPL Hathway has fired up GTPL Infinity, a satellite-based broadcasting system designed to fling digital television signals across every corner of India. The platform, powered by one of the world’s largest C-band teleport setups in Ahmedabad, promises to deliver around 800 channels—including 100 in high definition—to partners who can go live in as little as 24 hours with just a dish antenna and minimal kit.

The move transforms India’s largest digital cable television provider into a nationwide player. By piggybacking on satellite infrastructure from PT Telkomsat of Indonesia, GTPL Hathway can now bypass the expensive business of laying cables and instead drop signals from the sky. That means faster rollouts, lower costs and access to remote villages that traditional cable networks never bothered reaching.

For local operators, the pitch is simple: plug in, switch on, sell subscriptions. The satellite delivery promises rock-solid uptime whilst the standardised equipment keeps maintenance bills low. Partners can bundle in broadband, streaming services and cloud gaming alongside traditional television—a convergence play aimed at subscribers who want everything through one pipe.

GTPL managing director Anirudhsinh Jadeja calls it a “national enabler for digital equity.”  The real prize, though, is commercial. GTPL Infinity opens fresh revenue streams through content partnerships and lets the company crack markets where its cable network doesn’t reach. With 9.5m active cable subscribers and 1.05m broadband customers already on the books, the satellite platform gives GTPL Hathway the infrastructure to chase tens of millions more.

VMCLLP managing partner  and PT Telkomsat’s man in India Vishal Mathur  reckons the partnership will reshape broadcasting in rural and semi-urban India. Whether it reshapes GTPL Hathway’s bottom line as dramatically as its geographic footprint remains to be seen. But the satellite is up, the transponders are humming, and India’s cable king is betting big on beaming down from above.