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  • ACT leads in wired broadband subscriber additions in 2016

    ACT leads in wired broadband subscriber additions in 2016

    BENGALURU: Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited (ACT, ACT Broadband) lead in net wired broadband subscriber additions in calendar year 2016 with 50,000 subscribers added during the first two months of calendar year 2016 (CY-2016). As per data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), ACT’s broadband subscriber base as on 29 February 2016 (Feb-16) was 9.1 lakh as compared to the 8.6 lakh subscribers as on 31 December 2015 (Dec-15).

    Until 30 October 2015 (Oct-15), ACT Broadband was leading in wireline broadband internet subscriber additions in India during calendar year 2015. Both ACT and Bharti Airtel had added 230,000 subscribers in CY-2015 until Nov-15. In December 2015 numbers released by TRAI indicated that as on 31 December 2015 (Dec-15), Bharti Airtel had added 2.6 lakh subscribers (subject to a granularity of 10,000) as compared to the 2.5 lakh subscribers added by ACT in the period between 31 December 2014 (hence 1 January 2015, Dec-14) and Dec-15. In terms of wireline internet subscription numbers, Airtel had 16.7 lakh subscribers while ACT had 8.6 lakh subscribers at the end of CY-2015.

    As per TRAI data, 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 5, only BSNL and Airtel could 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.

    While the public sector players BSNL and MTNL have been losing subscribers and/or market share, the three private players have been growing on both these parameters as Fig 1 below indicates. In CY-2016, until Feb-16, both BSNL and MTNL have lost 10,000 wired broadband subscribers each, while You BB has added 10,000 subscribers. BSNL’s wired broadband subscriber base as on 29 February 2016 was 99.1 lakh, while MTNL had 11.1 lakh subscribers. You BB had 5.2 lakh subscribers for Feb-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 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 paper 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.

    At the same time, the subscriber numbers share of the top five wired broadband players in the country has reduced from 88.45 percent from Dec-14 to 84.54 percent as on Feb-16. During the same period the all India wireline internet subscriber base has grown 9.33 per cent from 153.2 lakh to 167.5 lakh. The combined numbers of the top five players have increased by less than half of that in percentage terms – by 4.5 per cent from 136.3 lakh to 141.6 lakh. The top five players have added 5.3 lakh subscribers during these 14 months, with ACT and Bharti Airtel contributing to the major bulk of the growth. Please refer to Fig 2 below.

    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 – Hathway, Siti Cable, Den Networks, Ortel Communications 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. 

  • 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.

  • ACT continues to lead in wireline broadband internet additions in 2015: TRAI October 2015

    ACT continues to lead in wireline broadband internet additions in 2015: TRAI October 2015

    BENGALURU: South Indian broadband internet service provider Atria Convergence Technologies Private Limited (ACT) continued to lead in addition of new subscribers in wireline broadband internet services during the period between 31 December, 2014 and 31 October, 2015. ACT added 2.10 lakh net subscribers or 22.11 per cent of the all India additions during the period as per the Telecom Regulatory of India (TRAI) report for the month ended 31 October, 2015. As per the TRAI reports, as on 31 December, 2014, ACT had 6.1 lakh subscribers (3.98 per cent of all India subscribers) and it had 8.2 lakh subscribers (5.04 per cent of all India subscribers) as on 31 October, 2015. Hence, its growth has also been the highest in percentage terms at 34.43 per cent during the period.

    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) and You Broadband (You BB). Among these five, only BSNL and Airtel could 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.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    (2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers up to two 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 paper 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 paper indicates ‘total income from operations.’

    Please refer to Figure 1 below. Overall, during the 10 month period in CY-2015 until end October 2015, wireline broadband internet subscriber base in India grew by 6.2 per cent or by 9.5 lakh net new subscribers. During the period, wired broadband internet subscriber base increased from 153.2 lakh to 162.7 lakh. During the period, the combined share of wireline broadband internet subscribers of the top 5 players has dropped 246 basis points from 88.45 per cent as on 31 December, 2014 to 85.99 per cent as on 31 October, 2015. The drop in share between 30 September, 2015 and 31 October, 2015 was 31 basis points from 86.30 per cent to 85.99 per cent as on 31 October, 2015. Of the 9.5 lakh new all additions, 4.4 lakh (46.32 per cent of total additions) were added by the top five players. Compared to the all India growth of 6.2 per cent in subscribers, the top five players combined subscription numbers grew by 3.25 per cent.

    Telecom major Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) is not far behind ACT in subscriber additions during the 10 month period. Airtel has added two lakh net new subscribers or 21.05 per cent of the net new all India additions during the period. Its subscriber base grew two lakh (grew by 14.18 per cent) in the first 10 months of CY-2015. Airtel’s wireline broadband internet subscriber base grew from 14.1 lakh (9.20 per cent of the all India base) as on 31 December, 2014 to 16.1 lakh (9.90 per cent of the all India base) as on 31 October, 2015. While the share of subscribers of Airtel, ACT and You BB has been growing, the shares of the public sector BSNL and MTNL have fallen, either because of fall in number of subscribers or because of no growth in numbers. Please refer to Fig 2 below.

    MSOs’ contribution to broadband

    As mentioned above, the combined share of overall wired internet subscribers of the top five companies is declining, with other players increasing their contribution to wireline broadband subscription numbers.

    The decline between 31 December, 2014 and 31 October, 2015 was 246 basis points. Other ISPs’ share of subscribers has increased to the same extent. Among the ‘Others’ are included Cable TV MSOs. MSOs in India, which are looking at broadband revenues to prop up their cable revenue numbers because of the comparatively higher ARPUs from broadband internet services. We can only repeat the figures that we have mentioned in our earlier report Wired Broadband: ACT, Airtel lead growth in Sep 2015; MSOs’ broadband numbers increasing.

    MSOs have started reporting double digit increase in internet subscribers and revenue. Four MSOs – Hathway, Siti Cable, Ortel and Den added 1.09 lakh (25.34 per cent of total additions in Q2-2016 or the quarter ended 30 September, 2015) subscribers during that period as per their financial reports filed at the bourses. QoQ, the combined broadband subscribers in Q2-2016 added by the four MSOs increased by 58.36 per cent from 0.69 lakh added in Q1-2016. The third quarter of the current fiscal (Q3-2016) ended on 31 December, 2015 and companies will start filing their numbers over the next few weeks.

    Some MSOs’ broadband numbers from our previous report

    Broadband contributes in double digit percentages to the total incomes or operating revenue of two of the four companies – Hathway (about 25 per cent and growing) and Ortel (declined from 21.07 per cent in Q1-2015 to 16.80 per cent in Q2-2016). In the case of Siti Cable and Den, revenue from broadband services contributed to less than five per cent to their operating incomes. However, sources at Siti Cable say that the company will now be focusing at broadband internet services in a big way.

    Hathway reported broadband revenue of Rs 71.9 crore (26.24 per cent of operating revenue) in the current quarter, 58.4 per cent higher YoY than the Rs 45.4 crore (17.23 per cent of operating revenue), and 10.4 per cent more than the Rs 65.1 crore (24.62 per cent of operating revenue) in the immediate trailing quarter. Last quarter, the company said that it had added 50,000 broadband subscribers in Q1-2016, and claimed a broadband subscriber base of 4.6 lakh, of which 1.7 lakh were under Docsis 3.0. Hathway says that broadband ARPU increased 6.8 per cent QoQ to Rs 616 from Rs 577 and that its Docsis 3 consumer ARPU has reached Rs 750.

    Ortel’s broadband customers grew 8.9 per cent to 63,663 in Q2-2015 from 57,528 in Q2-2015 and grew 4.5 per cent from 60,900 in Q1-2016. Ortel’s broadband ARPU in Q2-2016 was Rs 395, in Q2-2015, it was Rs 398 and in Q1-2016, it was Rs 393. Ortel reported 11.7 per cent growth in YoY total broadband services revenue to Rs 8.1 crore (16.80 per cent of operating revenue) in the current quarter as compared to Rs 7.3 crore (19.89 per cent of operating revenue) and a 7.9 per cent QoQ growth from Rs 7.5 crore (17.40 per cent of operating revenue).

    Siti Cable says that it has added 16,950 broadband subscribers in Q2-2016, taking its broadband subscriber base to 91,450 from 74,500 in the previous quarter. Broadband revenue increased 50 per cent YoY in Q2-2106 to Rs 9.30 crore (3.30 per cent of operating revenue) from Rs 6.20 crore (3.95 per cent of operating revenue) and increased 3.3 per cent QoQ from Rs 9 crore (2.83 per cent of operating revenue).

    Den says that it has added 21,000 subscribers in Q2-2016 as compared to 12,000 in Q1-2016. Its total broadband subscriber base in Q2-2016 was 57,000 as compared to 35,000 in Q1-2016 and 16,000 in Q2-2015. Den’s broadband revenue increased 58 per cent in Q2-2015 to Rs 8.23 crore (3.03 per cent to operating revenue) as compared to the Rs 5.21 crore (1.96 per cent of operating revenue) in Q1-2016 and Rs 1.44 crore (0.49 per cent of operating revenue) in the corresponding year ago quarter.

  • Wired Broadband: ACT, Airtel lead growth in Sep 2015; MSOs’broadband numbers increasing

    Wired Broadband: ACT, Airtel lead growth in Sep 2015; MSOs’broadband numbers increasing

    BENGALURU:  ACT continues to lead the wired broadband growth in calendar year 2015 with 1.9 lakh subscribers(or 23.46 percent of the total all India additions since December 31, 2014) additions fromDecember 31, 2014 until September 30, 2015. However, month-on-month, Bharati Airtel leads growth in subscription numbers by contributing 40,000 additions or 30.77 percent of the 130,000 broadband numbers added all India in the month of September 2015. ACT added 30,000 subscribers or 23.08 percent of the total broadband subscribers added in September 2015. BSNL added 10,000 or 7.69 percent of the total subscribersadded in September 2015. Both MTNL and You BB did not report any change from their August 2015 subscription numbers.

    Are the MSOs’ initiatives by carrying internet on their cable TV infrastructure beginning to show? Definitely yes! Will they surpass the numbers attained by the top 5 ISPs’? Maybe with a concentred effort, yes they may, but it will take plenty of doing and make take some time.Please read on.

    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 paper 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 paper indicates ‘total income from operations’.

    The Top 5 ISPs’

    The latest subscription numbers disclosed by The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) as on September 30, 2015, reveal that the total number of wired broadband subscribers in India stood at 161.3 lakh. Hence 8.1 lakh subscribers were added between December 31, 2014 and September 30, 2015, and 1.3 lakh subscribers were added in September 2015. Please refer to figure 1 below

    The pecking order for the top 5 wireline internet service providers or ISPs’ remains the same with the top three – Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharati Airtel (Airtel) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) also providing voice (telephone) services and many of their wired internet customers use both services – voice and data. The big three are followed by ACT (Atria Convergence Technologies) and You Broadband India Private Limited (You BB).

    Please refer to figure 2 below. As mentioned above, ACT still continues to lead the growth in wired broadband subscriptions with a net addition of 30,000 subscribers in September 2015, taking its tally to 1.9 lakh subscribers (23.46 percent of the all India additions) added sinceDecember 31, 2014.Hence ACT’s market share in the wired internet space in India improved by 15 basis points to 4.96 percent in August 2015 as compared to 4.81 in Aug-2015. Since December 31, 2014, ACT’s market share has gone up 98 basis points (from 3.98 percent) based on a granularity of 10,000.

    However, telecom major Bharti Airtel is swiftly closing the gap. Like in August2015, the behemoth added 40,000 wiredinternet subscribers in September 2015, taking its tally to 1.7 lakh subscribers (20.99 percent of the all India additions) added between December 31, 2014 and September 30, 2015.  Airtel’s market share improved 17 basis points to 9.80 percent in Sep 2015 as compared to 9.63 percent in Aug 2015. Airtel had a market share of 9.20 percent on December 31, 2014.

    You BB did not report any subscriber additionsin September 2015, its tally remained the same at 4.8 lakh subscribers until September 30, 2015, and it had a net addition of 60,000 subscribers (7.41 percent of the all India additions) since December 31, 2014. Hence You BB’s market share has declined by 2 basis points to 2.98 percent in September 2015 as compared to the 3 percent in August 2015. You BB had a market share of 2.74 percent as on December 31, 2014.

    The public sector BSNL increased its subscription numbers by 10,000 to 99.3 lakh or 61.56 percent of the all India total. However, BSNL’s market share declined by 44 basis points as compared to 62 percent in August 2015.As on December 31, 2014, BSNL had a market share of 65.14 percent

     MTNL subscription numbers were the same as the numbers reported for June 2015, July 2015 and August 2015, and hence there appears to be no net growth in wired broadband subscribers on its part. However, since the overall market size is increasing,MTNL’s market share has also declined even further. MTNL lost 5 basis points to reach a market share of 7.01 percent as compared to 7.06 percent in August 2015. As on December 31, 2014MTNL had a market share of 7.38 percent.

    MSOs’ contribution to broadband

    The combined subscription number of the top five wired ISP’ as on September 30, 2015 was 139.2 lakh or 86.30 percent of the total number of the 161.3 lakh wireline broadband subscribers in India. On December 31, 2014, the corresponding combined number was 135.5 lakh or 88.45 percent of the total number of 153.2 lakh broadband wireline subscribers in the country. The combined share of overall wired internet subscribers of the top five companies is declining, with other players increasing their contribution to wireline broadband subscription numbers.

    The decline between December 31, 2014 and September 30, 2015 was 147 basis points. Other ISP’s share of subscribers has increased to the same extent. Among the ‘Others’ are included Cable TV MSOs’. MSOs’ in India are looking at broadband revenues to prop up their cable revenue numbers because of the comparatively higher ARPUs’ from broadband internet services.  Please refer to Fig 3 below.

    In the three month period starting July 1, 2015 until September 30, 2015 or Q2-2016 (current quarter), the wired internet subscriber base in the country has grown by 4.3 lakh. Of these, the top 5 ISPs added 2.3 lakh subscribers or 53.49 percent of total additions in Q2-2016. At the same time, MSOs’ have started reporting double digit increase in internet subscribers and revenue.  Four MSOs’ – Hathway, Siti Cable, Ortel and Den added 1.09lakh (25.34 percent of total additions in Q2-2016) subscribers during that period as per their financial reports filed at the bourses.QoQ, the combined broadband subscribers in Q2-2016 added by the four MSOs’ increased by 58.36 percent from 0.69 lakh added in Q1-2016.

    For Q1-2016, if the drop in broadband subscription numbers to the extent of 50,000 and 10,000 by BSNL and MTNL respectively is neglected, the other three players among top five wirelineISPs’ in India added 1.2 lakh (37.50 percent of total additions in Q1-2016) of the 3.2 lakh subscribers added in that period.If the drop in subscriber numbers by BSNL and MTNL is considered, the top 5 ISPs’ added just 0.6 lakh wireline broadband subscribers or 18.75 percent of the total subscribers added in Q1-2016. The four MSOs’ contribution to the subscriber base was approximately 0.69 lakh or 21.50 percent of the total additions in Q1-2016. Hence in Q1-2016, four MSOs’ actually added more subscribers than the combined number of subscribers added by the top 5 wired ISPs’ in India.

    Cable companies such as Hathway reported consolidated internet subscription numbers of 5.15 lakh with 2 lakh asDocsis 3.0at the end of the current quarter (Q2-2016). While ACT has laid separate optical fibre for internet and is exploring territories beyond which it has cable TV operations, for the other MSOs’ it is a lot cheaper to have the internet signal ride on their existing cable TV networks wires.

    Last quarter (Q1-2016), Ortel announced that it had introduced free broadband option for all Ortel Cable TV subscribers in the states of Odisha, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh as a complimentary special value added service in order to target to deeper penetrate into markets by making internet affordable. Ortel says that its offer includes a free data limit every month for a year. The subscriber will be charged a nominal amount after exceeding the free data usage for the month.

    Some MSOs’ broadband numbers

    Broadband contributes in double digit percentages to the total incomes or operating revenue of two of the four sample companies in this paper – Hathway (about 25 percent and growing) and Ortel (declined from 21.07 percent in Q1-2015 to 16.80 percent in Q2-2016). Please refer to Fig 4 below. In the case of Siti Cable and Den, revenue from broadband services contributed to less than 5 percent to their operating incomes.

    Hathway reported broadband revenue of Rs 71.9 crore (26.24 percent of operating revenue) in the current quarter, 58.4 percent higher YoY than the Rs 45.4 crore (17.23percent of operating revenue), and 10.4 percent more than the Rs 65.1 crore (24.62 percent of operating revenue)in the immediate trailing quarter.Last quarter, the company said that it had added 50,000 broadband subscribers in Q1-2016, and claimed a broadband subscriber base of 4.6 lakh, of which 1.7 lakh were under Docsis 3.0. Hathway says that broadband ARPU increased 6.8 percent QoQ to Rs 616 from Rs 577 and that its Docsis 3 consumer ARPU has reached Rs 750.

    Siti Cable says that it has added 16,950 broadband subscribers in Q2-2016, taking its broadband subscriber base to 91,450 from 74,500 in the previous quarter. Broadband revenue increased 50 percent YoY in Q2-2106 to Rs 9.30 crore (3.30 percent of operating revenue) from Rs 6.20 crore (3.95 percent of operating revenue) and increased 3.3 percent QoQ from Rs 9 crore (2.83 percent of operating revenue).

    Ortel’s broadband customers grew 8.9 percent to 63,663 in the current quarter from 57,528 in Q2-2015 and grew 4.5 percent from 60,900 in Q1-2016.Ortel’s broadband ARPU in Q2-2016 was Rs 395, in Q2-2015, it was Rs398 and in Q1-2016, it was Rs 393. Ortel reported 11.7 percent growth in YoY total broadband services revenue to Rs 8.1 (16.80 percent of operating revenue ) crore in the current quarter as compared to Rs 7.3 crore (19.89 percent of operating revenue ) and a 7.9 percent QoQ growth from Rs 7.5 crore(17.40percent of operating revenue).

    Den says that it has added 21,000 subscribers in the current quarter as compared to 12,000 in Q1-2016. Its total broadband subscriber base in Q2-2016 was 57,000 as compared to 35,000 in Q1-2016 and 16,000 in Q2-2015.Den’s broadband revenue increased 58 percent in the current quarter to Rs 8.23 crore(3.03 percent to operating revenue)  as compared to the Rs 5.21 crore (1.96 percent of operating revenue) in Q1-2016 and Rs 1.44 crore (0.49 percent of operating revenue) in the corresponding year ago quarter.

    End points

    The four ISPs’(other than ACT) in this report that use their MSO platform for internet service delivery currently are –Hathway, Siti Cable, Ortel and Den in that order in terms of number of broadband internet subscribers in Q2-2016. Three of the four have cable TV subscribers in excess of 100 lakhs each on a consolidated basis, while Ortel had around 5.72 lakh revenue generating units (RGUs)as on September 30, 2015.

    The largest cable TV ISP among them is Hathway with 5.15 lakh subscribers, or just around 5 percent of its total cable TV subscriber base. In the case of Siti Cable and Den, their own internet penetration within their respective cable TV subscriber bases is less than 100 basis points. Many of these MSOs’ subscribers must have opted for internet services from other ISPs’, and all must have some non-cable TV  broadbandinternet subscribers. For these MSOs’ (and other MSOs’) the potential for converting their cable TV subscribers to double play subscribers is huge. This is the low hanging fruit that the MSOs’ can easily pluck if they do it right and increase their revenues and profitability.

  • White Horse’s soft launch of Kannada GEC Kalki Kannada

    White Horse’s soft launch of Kannada GEC Kalki Kannada

    BENGALURU: White Horse Network Services Private Limited (WHN) recently had a soft launch of its Kannada general entertainment channel (GEC) Kalki Kannada on Vijaydashmi day, October 22, 2015. The channel went on air officially on Karnataka Rajo utsav day, November 1.  The channel promises its audience 60 hours of complete entertainment by way of all original programmes in HD quality to grip viewers across all age groups.

     

    The channel says that its USP is that it offers completely original shows with no remakes from any other shows of any language. It claims that it offers an interesting mix of shows across various genres while catering to its diversified audience, and it promises to soon launch a show completely dedicated to women. WHN CEO P Kailasam says, “We have a separate team dedicated towards understanding and working based on the tastes and demands of Kannada viewers across different age groups as we at Kalki Kannada strive to offer content with a unique approach while maintaining the true Kannada culture at large”.

     

    Distribution

    Distribution has not been a major challenge for WHN, given the fact that Kailasam is an industry veteran from that branch of the industry. He was once director at Zee Turner and then acted on a consultancy basis for the MSO Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT). The channel has placed 350 boxes around Karnataka, a number that is probably more than even what Zee Kannada has placed in the state says Kailasam.  It is already on Airtel’s DTH platform and Kailasam says that talks are at an advanced stage with the other DTH players in the country.

     

    Advertisement revenue

    As far as advertisement revenue is concerned, the channel is awaiting rating numbers for at least a month’s period, before it starts quoting rates to media buyers. At present it has local retail ads and ads through business obtained from a few small deals done directly. “We will wait for the next month before we start offering rates to anyone. Our experience in the business tells us that if we set the initial rates very low, there will be no turning back, and we will be stuck in that rut forever. We have had inquiries from a couple of media buying agencies who wanted to block some of our inventory for six months and more in bulk. We have requested them to wait until December,” revealed Kailasam.

    From that context, the commencement of the announcing of rural numbers monitored by the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) will be a shot in the arm of sorts for WHN feels Kailasam.

     

    Marketing

    The channel’s launch has been a low-key affair, with  the nucleus of the marketing team already in place. It has placed half page ads in major Kannada language papers and has had itself written about locally.

     

    Content

    WHN says that it has a well-equipped state-of-the-art studio and latest editing technology and equipment, and is packed to offer complete production packages with HD quality content. Kailasam claims that after extensive research on viewership habits, Kalki Kannada has launched shows across various genres including a complete morning band on devotional shows, afternoon band on cookery shows, evening band on drama and reality shows as weekend specials.

     

    To name some of the non-fiction shows, ‘Abhishekam’, is an early morning devotional show that offers a visual tour of some of the exquisite temples of Karnataka  along with ‘day specific’ devotional songs and abhishekam based on particular God of the day. ‘Vishwaroopa’, is a devotional show on which philosopher and astrologer Savithru Sharma interacts with the viewers and covers every aspect of faith, coupled with solutions for personal problems, daily predictions and a guide to daily ritualistic practices.

     

    ‘Paddu’s Kitchen’, is an exclusively vegetarian cookery show on which Padmaja, a popular onscreen mom, presents simple home cooking with celeb chefs and signs off with her simple recipes. Simple breakfast, main course and dessert items are taught by yet another television celebrity, Srinivas Prabhu who joins hands with Paddu.

     

    ‘Pani Puri with Murali’, is a fun filled live chat show hosted by popular television anchor Murali, where he chats with celebrities and achievers over paanipuri. Viewers can also interact with guests and anchors over the phone in this live show. ‘Kalki Express’, a reality game show hosted by a popular comedian, M S Jahangir, travels across thirty districts of Karnataka reaching out to the viewers to try their Luck. Simple games played by the participating families can make them win money.

     

    In the fiction genre the channel has stated off with family dramas. ‘Puttamalli’ is the story of a young village girl who, in a turn of fate, marries a man much older than herself and is settled in a big city. The drama revolves around how the entire family of the boy helps to transform the girl to adjust to her new life. ‘Sevanthi Sevathi’, is a half-sisters’ drama with a repenting father and his two wives: the  rich and arrogant second wife and poor struggling first wife. The sisters’ paths cross on various occasions while they are completely unaware of their relationship with each other. The plot revolves around how the two sisters resolve all their family issues.

     

    ‘Anubandha’ is a story based on love, friendship, relationships and of unspoken feelings hidden by a mask. The story revolves around a mother and daughter who love each other a lot. In a turn of fate the mother loses her daughter but soon finds another girl almost like her daughter to whom she gives her daughter’s face so that the whole world thinks that her real daughter is alive.

     

    Besides family dramas, the channel will soon launch a socio-mythology serial ‘Amnoru’, that it says is an intense drama between good and evil. The show, while using elements of devotion, faith, black magic and mythology, is about a devout girl who has special powers and her immense faith in God  that saves her husband’s life.

     

    Until May 2015, WHN managed operations at the Kannada GEC Kasthuri. Industry sources say that WHN had turned the channel around and helped multiply revenues many times over, before handing back the reins to the promoters of the channel.

     
     

  • Wired Broadband: ACT continues to lead growth, Airtel adds 40K subscribers

    Wired Broadband: ACT continues to lead growth, Airtel adds 40K subscribers

    BENGALURU: ACT (Atria Convergence Technologies) continues to lead the wired broadband growth in calendar year 2015 with 1.6 lakh subscriber additions from 31 January, 2015 until 31 August, 2015. The latest numbers disclosed by The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as on 31 August, 2015 reveal that the total number of wired broadband subscribers in India stood at 160 lakhs. Hence 6.8 lakh subscribers were added between 31 December, 2014 and 31 August, 2015, and 1.6 lakh subscribers were added in August 2015.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

    (2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.47 million subscribers for You BB for July-2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages perforce have been mentioned up to the 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.

    While the pecking order remains the same with the top three – Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Bharati Airtel (Airtel) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) also providing voice (telephone) services and many of their wired internet customers use both services – voice and data. The big three are followed by ACT and You Broadband India.

    ACT still continues to lead the growth in wired broadband subscriptions with a net addition of 20,000 subscribers in August 2015, taking its tally to 1.6 lakh subscribers (23.53 per cent of the all India additions) added since 31 December, 2014. ACT’s contribution to the all India additions to subscriber numbers in August was therefore 12.5 per cent. Hence ACT’s market share in the wired internet space in India improved by eight basis points to 4.81 per cent in August 2015 as compared to 4.73 in July-2015

    However, telecom major Bharti Airtel is swiftly closing the gap. The behemoth added 40,000 wired internet subscribers or 25 per cent of the all India additions in August 2015, taking its tally to 1.3 lakh subscribers (19.12 per cent of the all India additions) added between 31 December, 2014 and 31 August, 2015.  Airtel’s market share improved 16 basis points to 9.63 per cent in August 2015 as compared to 9.47 per cent in July 2015.

    You Broadband added 10,000 or 6.25 per cent of the all India wired broadband subscribers added in August 2015, taking its tally to 4.8 lakh subscribers until 31 August, 2015, and a net addition of 60,000 subscribers (8.82 per cent of the all India additions) since 31 December, 2014. You Broadband’s market share has improved by three basis points to three per cent in August 2015 as compared to the 2.97 per cent in July 2015.

    The public sector BSNL and MTNL subscription numbers are same as the numbers reported for July 2015, and hence there appears to be no net growth in wired broadband subscribers on their part. However, since the overall market size is increasing, their market share has declined even further. BSNL had a market share of 62 per cent, down by 63 basis points as compared to July 2015, while MTNL lost seven basis points to reach a market share of 7.06 per cent as compared to 7.13 per cent in July 2015. As on 31 December, 2014, BSNL had a market share of 65.14 per cent, while MTNL had a market share of 7.38 per cent.

    Please refer to the figure below:

  • India early adapter of new technology but not IPTV: Dataxis

    India early adapter of new technology but not IPTV: Dataxis

    NEW DELHI: India stands out as an early adapter of latest technology despite being a price sensitive market, according to a Dataxis Research report.

     

    While on the one hand, India has the highest DTH subscribers as well as HDTV subscribers, on the other, public sector companies MTNL and BSNL have given up their hopes on IPTV. Airtel, ACT and Reliance are retaining the service only in few circles.

     

    India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka are the three countries with active IPTV subscriber base in the SAARC region.

     

    IPTV is still evolving and is not widely accepted as a pay-TV model by SAARC countries. The total active IPTV subscriber base in SAARC (adding these three countries) will be around 270,000+.

     

    Sri Lanka’s IPTV subscriber base contributes to nearly 48 per cent of the overall SAARC IPTV subscribers, followed by Pakistan and India with about 33 per cent and 18 per cent respectively.

     

    Sri Lanka and Pakistan are showing high interest in pushing IPTV. On the other hand, Nepal’s internet service providers are planning to launch commercial IPTV services by the end of 2015.

     

    Meanwhile, the video markets of 12 East Asia Pacific countries tracked by Dataxis are forecast to generate total digital video revenues of $4.31 billion in 2017 – surpassing the physical video market for the first time driven by fast-growing, high-speed broadband penetration.

     

    APAC Video Market 2015 analyses the transformation of the video market across the 12 countries covered over the period 2007-18, including physical and digital video unit sales, rentals, revenues and forecasts, as well as profiling each market and the individual digital video services available.

     

    The four main markets in the region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea) together accounted for about 96 per cent of total digital and physical video revenues end-2014, with Australia and Japan alone generating about $5.4 billion in physical video revenues, representing more than 90 per cent of total physical revenues across the region.

     

    However, South East Asia is plagued by piracy and the official physical video market is almost negligible. Unauthorised CDs, VCDs, DVDs and CD ROMs proliferate due to the lack of affordable digital content and low disposable incomes. Indonesia, for example, had 5.75 million Pay-TV subscribers by end-2014, but only two Pay-TV players offered VOD services and Dataxis estimates that just 1.5 per cent of Indonesian TV households will be VOD-enabled by 2018. 

  • The Indian wired broadband story until now in 2015

    The Indian wired broadband story until now in 2015

    BENGALURU: The wired broadband internet market in India is dominated by the public sector company Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), which as per numbers reported by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had an all India market share of 62.63 per cent as of  July 31, 2015. India’s wired broadband universe was 158.4 lakh, and BSNL had 99.2 lakh subscribers as on July 31, 2015. Please refer to Fig 1 below.

    Note: (1) 100,00,000 = 100 Lakh = 10 million = 1 crore
    (2) TRAI reports indicate data in millions of numbers. Hence it is assumed in this report that a figure of 0.47 million subscribers for You Broadband for July 31, 2015 would be granular to the nearest 10,000. While percentages perforce have been mentioned up to the 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 31, 2015 are incorrect at 0.66 million and the correct number would be 0.693 million. Also the subscription numbers mentioned for ACT for August 31, 2015 and September 31, 2015 are industry estimates.
    (4) This report examines performance by the top five broadband players in calendar year 2015, and also considers TRAI data for December 31, 2014 and November 30, 2014 to compare growth/declines.
    (5) In all the charts and figures in this report, the acronym for the period indicates the last date of the month. For example, Dec-14 means December 31, 2014 and Jul-15 means July 31, 2015. 

    The Indian wired broadband subscription universe has expanded by 3.39 per cent (5.2 lakh) in calendar year 2015 since from the December 31, 2014 number of 153.2 lakh to 158.4 lakh as on July 31, 2015. Among the top five wired internet service providers in India, the top three – BSNL, Bharati Airtel (Airtel) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) also provide voice (telephone) services and many of their wired internet customers use both services – voice and data. According to industry sources, Airtel has used separate Fibre to the home (FTTH) or Fibre to the curb (FTTC) in some places for data, but in general, broadband is carried on voice lines by the three big players. The other two companies in this report are ACT (Atria Convergence Technologies) and You Broadband India Private Limited.

    It is significant to note that wireline telephone voice subscribers have been declining at an average rate of about 0.49 per cent per month. The total number of wireline voice subscribers declined by 3.32 per cent (almost equal to the above mentioned 3.39 per cent increase in wired broadband internet subscribers) to 26104333 from 27000105 between December 31, 2015 and July 31, 2015, as per TRAI reports. Please refer to Fig 1A below

    graph2

    Among the top 5 players, the two public broadband service providers have shown a slight linear declining to flat trend in terms of number of subscribers, but since the overall universe is growing, their market share has been slowly declining. 

    Please refer to Fig 2A below for BSNL’s numbers. BSNL’s subscriber base declined by 0.6 per cent between December 31, 2014 and July 31, 2015. In fact, BSNL reported an almost flat subscriber base of 99.8 lakh between December 31, 2014, and February 28, 2015, with numbers declining as on March 31, 2015 to 99.6 lakh, declining to 99.2 lakh as on April 30, 2015, and further declining to 99 lakh as on May 31, 2015 before increasing to 99.1 lakh and 99.2 lakh as on  June 30, 2015 and July 31, 2015 respectively. At the same time, its market share declined 251 basis points from 65.14 per cent during the period under consideration in this report.

    graph3

    Please refer to Fig 2B. The private players have reported a growth in wired broadband internet subscriber numbers and market share. ACT has shown the largest growth. (Please refer to Fig 2C below for ACT numbers).
    Airtel and You Broadband have both shown an increase in number of wired broadband internet subscribers as well as in terms of market share, while the public sector MTNL has reported a decline across both the parameters.

    MTNL’s wired broadband internet subscribers grew from 11.3 lakh on December 31, 2014 to 11.4 lakh on January 31, 20155. The company’s numbers remained flat at 11.4 lakh until May 31, 2015 before declining to 11.3 lakh on June 31, 2015, a status which continued even in July 2015. Hence it has shown no growth in its broadband wired internet subscription base during the period under consideration in this report. However, its market share declined 25 basis points from 7.38 per cent to 7.13 per cent during that period.

    Airtel has a pan-India presence. It grew by 6.38 per cent by adding about 90,000 wired internet broadband users between December 31, 2014 and July 31, 2015, thereby increasing its market share from 9.20 per cent to 9.47 per cent. Airtel’s contribution to the all India increase of 5.2 lakh in wired broadband internet customers during the period under consideration was 17.31 per cent.

    You Broadband offers high speed internet, voice and video services through cable modem platform to residential, SME and corporate customers in 12 cities in the country. The company grew 11.9 per cent by adding 50,000 subscribers between December 31, 2014 and July 31, 2015 and grew its market share by 23 basis points from 2.74 per cent to 2.97 per cent during the period under consideration in this report.

    graph4

    Headquartered in Bangalore, the regional player ACT is spread across the towns and cities of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu. ACT presently has 10 lakh plus subscribers that include cable as well as FTTH broadband. 

    Among the five top wired broadband internet service providers in India, ACT has shown the largest growth, both in absolute numbers and in market share. Please refer to Fig 2C below. Overall, the company’s subscription numbers increased 22.95 per cent as on July 31, 2015 to 7.5 lakh from 6.1 lakh on December 31, 2015. Industry sources say that ACT had a subscriber base of 7.9 as of September 30, 2015 and of 7.7 lakh as of August 31, 2015. Hence, the company added 1.2 lakh subscribers between December 31, 2014 and July 31, 2015, or added 26.92 per cent to the all India wired broadband internet subscriber base growth of 5.2 lakhs mentioned above during the period.

    ACT’s market share during the period from December 31, 2014 to July 31, 2015 increased by 75 basis points to 4.73 per cent from 3.98 per cent (Please keep the granularity of reportage of 10000 subscriber numbers in mind). The company’s wired internet broadband subscription base is now at about 50 per cent of the behemoth Airtel. 

    Though the breakup in regions has not been indicated by TRAI in its reports, it would not be surprising if ACT is the largest private player in South India, maybe ahead of even Airtel. Among the non-voice ISP’s ACT’s broadband subscriber base of 7.5 lakh as of July 31, 2015 certainly makes it the largest player in the country. 

    raph5

    Concluding remarks

    Quality of the product and services as well as after sales services speak for themselves. Pricing also plays the most critical role in a price sensitive market like India. The bigger players such as BSNL, MTNL and Airtel have been insensitive to these aspects while riding on the brand value of their other business operations such as wireless. They seem to have not noticed the simple fact that internet is rapidly becoming an integral part of everyday life and more so wired internet when the user is in the office or at home. For them, wired broadband is just one more product that adds a small fraction to their topline and bottomline. Wired broadband is the stepchild. It is here that the smaller players have stepped in and offered a superior product and prompt service and after sales service at a price that is often a fraction of what their bigger peers offer. 

    It is the smaller regional players such as ACT and You Broadband that have focused on the customers while not losing sight of their bottomline at the same time. In the case of the telecom companies, product quality and sensitivities to the customers’ requirements and after sales service are sorely lacking say some of their users. 

    Companies such as ACT and You Broadband have been so far plucking low hanging fruit. They started by offering internet services in the areas where they had cable television subscribers. ACT is now expanding in adjacent areas, and exploring newer territories. ACT has recently started operations in Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu. FTTH certainly offers a better experience to the consumer when compared to other modes such as copper that the traditional voice service providers have been using, or wireless or DOCSIS 2.0 or 3.0 that many an MSO has started depending upon to increase ARPUs.

    With cable MSOs, satellite, WiFi, and 4G wireless service providers vying for their customers, the internet ecosystem in India is rapidly changing, and for the better in India. Telecom service providers are facing some of the fiercest competition in decades in the wired broadband internet space. The industry expects that one of the biggest game changers in the internet ecosystem will be Reliance Jio. As MSOs slowly start focusing more and more on wired internet through DOCSIS, the race for numbers and profits is going to get even bigger. 

    Personalised high quality services that the next door cable operator can offer could play a big difference in who will get more traction. Industry sources claim that Airtel has started taking the competition from the regional wired internet players seriously by improving its after sales service and offering differentiated and competitive packages in the areas where the regional players operate, while product quality when compared to the smaller players is still work in progress. Reliance Jio is so far an unknown quality… only time will tell how the King (customer) will benefit and who it will chose to offer it what is now becoming a basic need for every human being. 

  • ACT to focus on broadband, cable ops acquisition

    ACT to focus on broadband, cable ops acquisition

    BENGALURU: Atria Convergent Technologies (ACT), one of the largest broadband players in India after the public sector BSNL, MTNL and the private sector Airtel will focus primarily on broadband, reveal company sources. ACT withdrew its application for permanent registration as an MSO in September 2014 according to the MIB ‘List as on 05.01.2015 of MSOs whose Registration by Ministry of Information & Broadcasting to operate in digital addressable system (DAS) has been cancelled or cases closed’.

     

    “Our focus for our mother brand ACT will be broadband. We have MSO licenses in the states that we operate in under individual names. We will expand our cable footprint by acquiring only the operators that have permanent licenses,” revealed ACT CEO Bala Maladi to indiantelevision.com.

     

    MSOs under the ACT umbrella operate in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh (AP) through Kable First India in Bangalore, Kable First Davangere in Davangere,  Mandapeta Digital Entertainment (Mandapeta, AP), Venkateshwara Digital Home Entertainment (Kutukuluru and  Nakapalli in AP) and ACT Digital Home Entertainment (AP and Telangana), Raja Rajeshwari Entertainment (Notified areas of Nellore, AP), Sree Digital Home Entertainment (East Godavari District in the state of AP). Earlier, ACT was present in Indore (Madhya Pradesh) through SR Cable TV. In Tamil Nadu (TN), it provides broadband internet services.

     

    ACT is a triple play service provider offering an ensemble of information, communication and entertainment through Fibernet, Digital TV, Analog TV and IPTV. Headquartered in Bengaluru, ACT is spread across the towns and cities of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh (AP) and Tamil Nadu (TN). ACT says that it presently has 10 lakh (1 million) plus cable and broadband subscribers. ACT has been funded by IVFA (India Value Fund Advisor). Industry sources say that the company has crossed turnover of Rs 700 crore (Rs 7 billion).