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Tag: Atria

  • TRAI’s Arvind Kumar prescribes broadband medicine for MSOs & LCOs

    TRAI’s Arvind Kumar prescribes broadband medicine for MSOs & LCOs

    KOLKATA: Digital is it. Across the country, and age groups, Indians are getting online, and consuming more high speed broadband data than ever before, whether it is for entertainment, education, commerce or banking. While the telcos have been serving their needs for a large part, the increasing maw for data and speeds has thrown up increasing opportunities for multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs)  even as their video distribution operations are seeing churn.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) advisor Arvind Kumar spoke about this potential future of MSOs in a virtual fireside chat hosted by Elara Capital. Kumar said that a number of people want broadband services currently and they are looking at fibre-to-home services. According to him, it is not possible for a telecom service provider to satiate the demand of 300 million households even in the next ten years. 

    Read our coverage on TRAI 

    “Therefore MSOs must focus on providing a broadband connection with cable TV services. This is right for them. This makes a very good business case for the MSOs. Neither any TSP will be able to fight with them, nor DTH operators will be able to do so. The MSOs should focus on how to give broadband service at the same time along with cable services to retain subscribers,” Kumar added. He also mentioned that the Covid2019 crisis has proved the demand for broadband connectivity. 

    He is optimistic about the ability of MSOs to stave off the competition from DTH operators despite the latter having a technological edge. Kumar opined that MSOs can compete with DTH operators in terms of the quality of service, cost-effectiveness and broadband services. Considerably, reports came out after the implementation of the new tariff order indicate that MSOs are losing a large number of subscribers to DTH players.

    Read our coverage on MSOs 

    Along with other economic issues, MSOs face the issue of conflict with local cable operators (LCOs) quite often. According to Kumar, the two parties will keep getting at loggerheads with each other until they understand the whole game. He explained the need for LCOs to upgrade their thought process as well as technology. “The LCOs have to support MSOs to stay relevant in the game. Otherwise, both parties will lose their market share to other contenders,” he pointed out.

    Kumar emphasised that LCOs must concentrate on broadband plans and discuss with MSOs. They need to express the longing of coming into the overall picture. He also mentioned that Jio will get support from MSOs if they don’t receive it from the last mile operators. However, he added that LCOs have expertise in dealing with consumers, local authorities which is important to help any broadband operator.

    As per TRAI data, there were 19.38 million wired broadband subscribers in India as of 31 May 2020. The top service providers were BSNL (7.93 million), Bharti Airtel (2.41 million), Atria Convergence Technologies (1.64 million), Hathway Cable & Datacom (0.97 million) and Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (0.97 million). 

  • ACT reveals new brand identity, claims largest non-telecom ISP in India with 5 lakh subscribers

    ACT reveals new brand identity, claims largest non-telecom ISP in India with 5 lakh subscribers

    BENGALURU: ACT (Atria Convergent Technologies) Broadband claims that it is now the largest non-telecom ISP and the fourth largest ISP in the wired broadband category in India with its subscriber base of five lakh that it crossed last month.  Only public sector telecom companies BSNL and MTNL and the private sector communications giant Airtel are ahead of ACT, the company claims.

     

    ACT is a triple play service provider which claims a subscriber base of 10 lakh of Fibernet (Internet over fiber optics), digital TV and IPTV consumers. The company is headquartered in Bengaluru and its services are spread over towns and cities of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

     

    The company also announced a strategic move in the industry – the launch of its new broadband brand ACT Fibernet.  ACT says that its new brand underscores its continued commitment to offer fastest, most consistent and unparalleled internet experience through the scalable technology of fiber optics. The company announced the fastest speed currently provided by any service provider to the retail segment of 60 mbps.

     

    What is remarkable about ACT’s achievement is that, while the top three players and most of the other ISPs in the country have a pan-India presence, ACT has  achieved its milestones in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, with Chennai coming under its footprint only last year.

     

    “Over the next two years, we are confident of doubling the broadband subscriber base to 10 lakh,” said ACT managing director Sunder Raju.

     

    “We have been setting benchmarks in the industry since we began six years ago – when the industry in India considered 256 kpbs as broadband, our benchmark was 512 mbps, our new bench mark is going to be 5 mbps to the industry’s 1 mbps,” says ACT Group CEO Bala Malladi. “Right from the beginning, we have been laying fiber optic wires up to the last mile and hence scaling up to 1 gbps with small changes to the existing infrastructure should not be a problem for us in the future,” added Malladi.

     

    “There is ample scope for us to double our subscriber base within our current catchment area, but we will definitely look at bringing other towns and cities under our footprint,” said Malladi.

     

    The company has announced a high decibel marketing campaign with the tagline ‘Incredibly fast’ across print, outdoor, digital, newspaper inserts, handbills, bus shelters, metro pillars, kites, parking boards etc., over the next three months within their catchment areas. Minimum spend is on Television advertising. Company sources revealed that the campaign costs would be in the range of Rs 10 crore. RK Swamy BBDO is the creative agency and RK Swamy Hansa group handles the media buying duties and Madison PR handles public relations.

     

    The company has received funding from India Value Fund Advisers (IVFA) which would be used for doubling the subscriber base, an industry source reveals to www.indiantelevision.com that ACT had invested around Rs 600 crore in the current phase, of which IVFA funding was between Rs 350 crore to Rs 400 crore.  Last year, the company had raised privately placed non-convertible debenture (NCD) funding of Rs 180 crore.

     

    “ACT would need funding to the extent of around Rs 500 crore for further expansion. This should not be a problem, considering the fact that ACT has crossed Rs 500 crore in revenue a couple of years ago and has seen operating profits in recent years as compared to many other companies that have been bleeding. The company should be reporting profits in the next two or three years,” says an industry source who works for an MSO and who did not want to be named.

     

    Keeping its current consumers in mind, the brand has upgraded its entire subscriber base in Bengaluru to new fast plans at no extra cost starting 24 July. An ACT broadband consumer confirmed that his fair usage policy has been upgraded to 50 GB from the 40 GB that he enjoyed earlier.

  • Cisco providing pay TV to 150 million viewers in India

    Cisco providing pay TV to 150 million viewers in India

    NEW DELHI: Cisco today claimed it was now enabling a rich and advanced TV experience for over 150 million viewers in India, using the industry estimated average of five people per household.

    Thus, it said it had established itself as the leading provider of enhanced TV viewing experiences to more than 30 million Indian homes, a milestone that reinforces the company’s leadership in the digital pay-TV solution market in India.

    Cisco service and solution platforms are in the prime position to address the changing needs of pay-TV operators now and into the future, with more than 10,000 R&D experts in Bangalore. It claimed that the company currently enjoys a leading market share in conditional access and middleware. (Source: MPA Media Route, 26 February 2013).

    Cisco claimed it is a trusted pay-TV technology partner for more than 100 operators worldwide, with leading direct to home (DTH) and cable operator customers in India including ADN, Airtel Digital TV, Asianet, Atria, CCN, Darsh Digital, DEN Networks, Fastway, GTPL, Hathway, JAK Communications and Tata Sky, to name a few.

    Cisco is fully committed to supporting the cable TV industry to meet the government mandate to roll out digital addressable systems in a phased manner by 31 December 2014.

    India is the leading DTH satellite market in Asia Pacific with the most subscriber homes and is second only to the US DTH satellite market, which it is expected to overtake in the next few years.

    Cisco is committed to delivering a host of world-leading, affordable and innovative solutions and services to help its satellite and cable customers to differentiate their services in their markets in India, which has an estimated 135 million pay-TV homes.

    Cisco India and SAARC senior VP sales Jeff White: “The Indian pay-TV industry is one of the fastest growing and most dynamic in the world. India now accounts for nearly a third of Cisco‘s subscriber homes in the Asia Pacific region. We are excited about our leadership in the industry, deep commitment to our customers and sharp focus on innovation in India.”

    Cisco service provider video technology group senior VP & GM Jesper Andersen said: “Achieving the milestone of over 30 million digital homes in India is a testament to our commitment to India over the last 18 years and our partnerships with some of the most successful cable TV and DTH satellite platforms in the country. The Indian pay-TV industry is one of the fastest-growing and most dynamic in the world. We confidently expect tens of millions more households to benefit from Cisco’s enhanced TV-viewing experiences, as the demand for advanced services and applications surges.”