MUMBAI: The upcoming Jio GigaFiber broadband service has been the star of the Indian tech scene ever since it was launched under the public beta mode. As per reports, the base plan will offer speeds of 50Mbps and will be available for Rs 600 per month. The 100Mbps plan that has been available to Preview subscribers is expected to cost Rs 1000 per month. This will enable GigaFiber to gain a huge advantage over rival operators and draw more subscribers. A few months ago, the Triple Play Plan was also revealed costing Rs 600 per month and offering 100 GB data per month at 100Mbps speed. Jio is also likely to provide additional access to Jio’s HomeTV service which is expected to be its foray into the DTH sector. It will also offer access to a landline connection which will enable free voice service. Initially, Jio had only one plan that offered a 100Mbps connection under the preview offer in which the users would have to pay Rs 4500 as security deposit and they could access data for free. However, a few months ago, many subscribers reported that they were getting the GigaFiber connection with a security deposit of Rs 2500. With this plan, subscribers are only able to get speeds of 50Mbps and are restricted to a single-band router. Jio hasn’t declared the official prices yet, but according to reports many are expecting GigaFiber to be extremely affordable, undercutting all existing broadband operators with a strong pricing strategy. Reliance is expected to officially announce its plans within a few weeks.
Tag: broadband
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RIL likely to infuse Rs 20,000 cr in Reliance Jio
MUMBAI: Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is likely to infuse Rs 20,000 crore in Reliance Jio to boost its broadband and 5G services. As per a Mint report, Reliance Jio will issue 4 billion non-cumulative optionally convertible preference shares to its parent at Rs 50 each for cash.
“The capital would be used to expand operations of Reliance Jio. The non-cumulative optionally convertible preference shares carry an interest rate of 9 per cent," Mint report said citing a source. Jio has built a subscriber base of 306.7 million in a very short span of time.
An analyst at a domestic brokerage said that capital requirement for the telecom sector will stay high due to the constant infrastructure upgradation and the proposed 5G expansion. He added that Jio is now focused on reaching out to the country’s underserved homes and enterprise connectivity market.
RIL has an outstanding debt of more than Rs 2.87 trillion as of 31 March which increased by Rs 69,000 crore during the year due to investments in Jio. The telco giant has decided to transfer its fibre and tower arms to two infrastructure investment trusts (InvITs) – Digital Fibre Infrastructure Trust and Tower Infrastructure Trust to cure debt.
“In our view, the InvIT has effectively allowed RIL to replace ₹710 billion of external debt with very-long-term (20-year) money and thereby remove any refinancing need on this amount of debt. It also gives more balance sheet flexibility and allows RIL to further increase spending across its consumer business if it chooses to do so,” said an earlier JPMorgan report as quoted by Mint.
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Jio Gigafiber tops Netflix report on best internet speeds
MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Gigafiber has topped the list of internet service providers (ISPs) with the highest speed, according to a report by Netflix. In the month of February, it had a speed of 3.61 mbps beating rivals Airtel, Spectranet and 7 Star Digital.
Since its launch in September 2018, Jio has consistently maintained its pole position in the chart giving speeds above 3.41 mbps. The report is released by Netflix to show which provider can give the best viewing experience for its videos.
After Jio, 7 Star Digital gave a speed of 3.43 mbps, Spectranet with 3.34 mbps and Airtel with 3.29 mbps. Some of the other bigger players such as Hathway, ACT Fibernet, MTNL and BSNL were ranked lower in the list.
The company is leaving no stone unturned to ensure it dominates the internet space. Last week, it was reported that Reliance Jio is testing a Triple Play Plan for its fibre to the home (FTTH) service, Jio GigaFiber. The plan will enable users to access Jio GigaFiber, Jio Home TV and Jio Apps in a single pack. The plan will offer 100GB of high-speed data, unlimited voice calling, Jio Home TV subscription along with access to Jio’s portfolio of app. It will be valid for 28 days.
Mukesh Ambani-led Jio announced its high speed fixed line broadband services for retail customers last year. During the formal announcement, it was announced that Jio Giga Fibre would come with a Jio Giga TV set top box offering more than 600 TV channels as well as over 1000 movies with enabled voice command feature for TV.
Along with that, an interesting feature of video calling through TV was also highlighted. Users can call every other TV connected through Jio Gigafibre. For smooth rollout of the service, the company also acquired majority stakes in multi system operators such as Hathway and DEN Networks.
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Jio to connect GigaFiber, Home TV and apps
MUMBAI: Reliance Jio is reportedly testing a 'Triple Play Plan' for its fibre to the home (FTTH) service, Jio GigaFiber. The plan will enable users to access Jio GigaFiber, Jio Home TV and Jio Apps in a single pack.
As per a report from Telecom Talk, the company is testing the triple play plan with its employees and the plan can be seen on the GigaFiber account dashboard. The plan will offer 100GB of high-speed data, unlimited voice calling, Jio Home TV subscription along with access to Jio’s portfolio of app. It will be valid for 28 days.
Mukesh Ambani-led Jio announced its high speed fixed lined broadband services for retail customers last year. During the formal announcement, it was announced that Jio Giga Fibre would come with a Jio Giga TV set top box offering more than 600 TV channels as well as over 1000 movies with enabled voice command feature for TV.
Along with that, an interesting feature of video calling through TV was also highlighted . Users can call every other TV connected through Jio Gigafibre. For smooth rollout of the service, the company also acquired majority stakes in multi system operators such as Hathway and DEN Networks.
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ACT Fibernet partners with Netflix
MUMBAI: Broadband service provider ACT Fibernet has entered into a partnership with streaming giant Netflix. Under the partnership, "Entertainment" plan users of ACT Fibernet would be able to pay for their monthly Netflix subscription through their ACT Fibernet bill with an assured cashback of up to Rs 350 per month. The offer will be available for ACT Fibernet customers Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad in the beginning.
"In line with our brand philosophy ‘Feel the Advantage’, we are excited to partner with Netflix, one of the most preferred choice of entertainment for our customers, and provide exceptional benefits and convenience to our users who will now be able to stream and enjoy the best of 4K and HD content seamlessly. Further, under our advantage entertainment promise, we are delighted to launch a unique assured cashback program for all our customers who choose to subscribe for Netflix via ACT,” Atria Convergence Technologies Ltd marketing head Ravi Karthik commented.
In Bengaluru, the ACT Entertainment variants are available on ACT Storm, ACT Lightning, ACT Incredible and ACT GIGA broadband plans. Likewise, in Hyderabad, ACT Entertainment variants are available on A Max-1050, A Max-1299, ACT Incredible and ACT GIGA. In Chennai, the ACT Entertainment variants are available on ACT Blast Promo, ACT Storm, ACT Lightning, ACT Thunder, ACT Incredible and ACT GIGA. Similarly, in Delhi, the ACT Entertainment variants are available on ACT Platinum Promo, and ACT Diamond broadband plans.
The offer would be effective from 7 March and later will be expanded to other markets. Earlier, ACT Fibernet also entered partnership with another OTT platform SonyLIV to strengthen entertainment content offering.
“Rising video consumption is at the heart of the growing broadband internet ecosystem in India. We are delighted to partner with ACT Fibernet to enable their customers to pay seamlessly for their Netflix subscription as part of their ACT bill and enjoy our incredible catalogue of content on any internet-connected screen,” Netflix India business development director Abhishek Nag commented.
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GTPL cable TV business revenue up; broadband business keeps afloat
BENGALURU: Indian multi-system operator and internet service provider GTPL Hathway Ltd (GTPL) reported 12.6 percent increase in total income for the quarter ended 31 December 2018 (Q3 2019, quarter or period under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter (y-o-y) Q3 2018. GTPL’s Total Income in Q3 2019 was Rs 319.91 crore, for the corresponding year ago quarter it was Rs 284.09 crore.
GTPL has two segments – cable TV business and internet service. Every Indian broadband internet services provider has been hit by Jio. Reliance Jio Infocomm has made available low cost broadband internet services at a never before scale in India, unprecedented anywhere in the world. Most operators have been bleeding subscribers, and how! ARPUs have plummeted.
GTPL’s internet service business has been reporting a steep decline in operating profits over the past few quarters. In Q3-2019, GTPL’s internet business was still profitable. And the company has reported that its internet subscriber base increased by 11,000 for the period under review, however at lower ARPU. For Q3 2019, internet business ARPU was Rs 430 as compared to Rs 487 in Q3 2018.
GTPPL’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) increased 3.1 percent y-o-y in Q3 2019 to Rs 19.72 crore from Rs 19.13 crore in Q3 2018. Consolidated total comprehensive income for the period increased 2.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 19.72 crore from Rs 19.26 crore. Consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) excluding other income was almost flat – it declined 0.8 percent y-o-y in Q3 2019 to Rs 77.89 crore (24.8 percent of operating or op revenue) from Rs 78.53 crore (27.8 percent of op revenue) in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
Segment Performance
Cable TV business operating result increased 20.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 19.35 crore in Q3 2019 from Rs 816.11 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Operating revenue of GTPL’s cable TV business increased 14.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 278.06 crore from Rs 242.4 crore.
GTPL’s TV business added 2,00,000 CATV digital subscribers in Q3 2019, 1,70,000 of which it says were paying subscribers. The company says that it had seeded 3,00,000 set-top boxes during the quarter under review. In all GTPL says that it seeded 0.95 crore STBs, of which 0.8 crore were active and 0.745 crore were digital paying subscribers as of 31 December 2018. GTPL’s largest subscriber base is in phase IV areas. Digital paying subscriber bases for phases I, II, III and IV were 0.066 crore, 0.169 crore, 0.226 crore and 0.283 crore respectively. ARPUs remained flat y-o-y across all the four DAS phases. ARPUs net of taxes for phases I, II, III and IV were Rs 103, Rs 102, Rs 67 and Rs 60 respectively.
GTPL’s internet business operating revenue in Q3 2019 was almost flat – it increased 1.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 36.44 crore from Rs 36.03 crore. Internet service segment’s operating results for Q3 2019 declined by 87.9 percent y-o-y to just Rs 0.37 crore from Rs 3.03 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
GTPL says in a press release that during the quarter, it was appointed as Project Implementation Agency (PIA) of Package B for implementation of BharatNet Phase – II Project in the state of Gujarat by Gujarat Fibre Grid Network Limited (GFGNL). The company says that the project is worth Rs 1,245.77 crore. The project is on EPC bases and includes survey, design, plan, execution with active/passive (OSP + Electronics) components with commissioning of complete network.
Let us look at the other numbers reported by GTPL Hathway
Consolidated total expenditure increased 16.3 percent y-o-y during the quarter under review to Rs 289.05 crore from Rs 248.59 crore in Q3 2018. Pay channel cost in Q3 2019 increased 26.5 percent y-o-y to Rs 137.72 crore from Rs 108.90 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Other operational costs reduced 16.5 percent y-o-y in Q3 2019 to Rs 23.99 crore from Rs 20.64 crore in Q3 2018.
Employee benefits expense in Q3 2019 increased 18.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 37.63 crore from Rs 31.64 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Finance costs reduced 20 percent y-o-y during the quarter under review to Rs 5.86 crore from Rs 7.32 crore. Other expenses in the period reduced 3.7 percent y-o-y to Rs 37.28 crore in Q3 2019 from Rs 38.72 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
Company Speak
GTPL Hathway managing director Anirudhasinhji Jadeja said in a press release, “In an environment of uncertainty, GTPL Hathway has continued to post steady performance. Our first 9 month revenue and PAT are up by 14 percent and 10 percent respectively; reflecting inherent strength of the company’s offerings and quality customer service. The new tariff order has put customers at the centre of the business; providing them freedom to make their own choices. As India’s one of the leading MSOs, we expect higher monetisation across the phases and better transparency as a direct fall out of the new order.”
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TRAI tariff order, disruption posed challenges to DPOs in 2018
MUMBAI: Distribution platform operators (DPOs) in India trod a tricky terrain throughout 2018. Both DTH and cable operators continued to face the heat of Jio FTTH, the rapid growth of over-the-top (OTT) platforms and the uncertainties posed by the implementation of the new tariff regime towards the end of the year.
OTT platforms and challenge of cord cutting
With the fall in data triggered by Jio, OTT went beyond male, metro, and millennial which posed a potential threat to the cable and DTH industry. As online viewership increased rapidly, traditional distributors were exposed to the threat of cord-cutting.
What bothered cable operators more than independent platforms was traditional broadcasters driving the B2C lane. Almost all the major broadcasters strengthened their presence on digital, offering catch-up TV along with original content, thus allowing them to bypass revenue sharing with traditional distributors without having to worry about the tariff order or down-linking permission from the government.
KCCL CEO Shaji Mathews pointed out that broadcasters are trying to develop OTT platforms in such a way that their dependence on cable and DTH is reduced. He also added that they are developing it to push for additional viewership and to have an alternative medium.
Jio’s FTTH foray
After leading the wireless data revolution, Mukesh Ambani-led Jio Infocomm returned with another blockbuster offering last year – Jio GigaFiber. The grand entry in the fixed-line broadband sector was not only a challenge for broadband service providers but for cable, DTH players also as the FTTH service is bundled with additional benefits including TV service. Given that the Jio FTTH service will come at a lower cost as compared to market rates, another price war is likely to be unleashed by India’s richest man. In addition to that, the higher amount of data at better speeds will convert more people into binge-watchers of online content increasing the risk of cord-cutting.
Jio’s entry in India’s low-penetrated FLBB sector has created opportunities for larger MSOs as the former quickly realised the difficulty of last-mile connectivity.
“If you talk about Jio coming in the industry, we are very much positive towards it that they have recognised our structure – broadcaster, distributor, MSOs, LMOs. Since they have recognised it and tied up with major players like Den and Hathway, it’s a win-win situation for industry also,” Maharashtra Cable Operators Foundation member Asif Sayed said.
According to Mathews, it is not the first time that the cable industry has been subjected to disruption. The advent of DTH too was rooted in disruption. According to him, the cable industry is well equipped to face the impending Jio onslaught.
DD FreeDish growth
Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati’s free-to-air (FTA) platform DD FreeDish too became a cause for concern for the distribution industry. The new tariff framework caps monthly cable or DTH bill of television households at Rs 130 (plus taxes) for the first 100 FTA channels. However, DD Free Dish offers the same free of cost. Doordarshan director general Supriya Sahu believes DD FreeDish is not only used by a marginal section of the society but is also evolving as an alternative option which clearly indicates that it could be a potential threat for DPOs. As per consulting firm EY, the number of DD FreeDish subscribers is expected to reach over 40 million by 2020.
DPOs forged new alliances
With the threat of disruption looming large, cable and DTH operators adopted new strategies to survive. Major DTH players as well as MSOs signed content deals with popular OTT platforms and rolled out hybrid set-top boxes as a counter.
Essel group-promoted Siti Networks unveiled “SITI PlayTop” with YouTube and YouTube Kids in-built, its first hybrid set top box, in September 2018. Another leading MSO, Hathway, launched two new products – an OTT set-top box and a cable hybrid box. Mumbai-headquartered MSO IMCL’s group company ONE Fiber also introduced an OTT device. DTH companies too got in on the act. In the first half of 2018, Harit Nagpal-led Tata Sky entered into a strategic partnership with streaming giant Netflix. India’s largest DTH operator Dish TV announced the national launch of its OTT platform and DishSMRT Stick – a streaming device to make any TV smart. Jawahar Goel’s company has also planned new consumer-friendly initiatives including the launch of Hybrid connected box and integration of voice assistance in next-generation smart STB.
Added focus on broadband
Realising the importance of online video in the entertainment sector, MSOs and some LCOs with their existing resources focused on broadband business to further cement their positions. Cable operators with a reach of over 100 million households can easily upgrade fixed line coaxial cable to carry high-speed broadband. Fastway CEO Peeush Mahajan said his company expanded its broadband service in new locations in 2018 and the MSO’s focus will be expanding further in as many as areas possible this year. Even DTH operator Tata Sky rolled out broadband service in 15 cities as it remodeled itself as a video and broadband company.
KCCL’s Mathews said that most major MSOs have now started investing in broadband and FTTH. He also added that the implementation of fixed-line broadband has been hampered because of various governmental issues like lack of coordination between the various ministries on issues like license fee and difficulties in acquiring licenses.
VAS remained key
While the ARPU growth was on the lower side across the ecosystem, DTH operators invested in various value-added-services to drive growth. Dish TV launched VAS services for both DishTV and D2H brands such as ‘Bhojpuri Active’, ‘Fitness Active’ among others with an objective of delivering quality content to consumers across regions in their language. Tata Sky too expanded its regional services with the launch of VAS like Tata Sky Telugu Cinema and Tata Sky Tamil Cinema. At the end of year, it also launched Tata Sky ShortsTV, a service dedicated to curated short stories and films.
DTH sector’s sluggish growth
The growth of direct to home (DTH) subscriber base of private players in India was the slowest over the last five years for the nine month period ended 30 September 2018 (TQY 2018, TQY period, three quarters of the year under review) as per TRAI. The good news was that the quarter ended 30 June 2018 (Jun-18, last or previous quarter) saw a reversal of fortunes. From a loss of about 30,000 (0.003 crore, 0.3 million, 0.3 lakh) subscribers in the quarter ended 31 March 2018 (Mar-18), DTH subscriber growth was positive 18.4 lakh (0.184 crore, 1.84 million) for the quarter ended 30 June 2018 (Jun-18). However, in the case of the quarter ended 30 September 2018 (Sep-18), subscriber growth has once again nose-dived to just 8,000 subscriber additions.
New tariff regime
The most crucial development of 2018 was TRAI’s win against Star India in the Supreme Court with regards to the new tariff order. With the radical change in the overall ecosystem, the organisations sounded cautiously optimistic. The new rule is expected to bring transparency in the value chain along with creating a level playing field for all stakeholders.
While broadcasters and DTH platforms are likely to be benefitted, LCOs seem highly concerned about what’s in store for them. LCOs feel the 80-20 revenue share will work for DTH operators but not for MSOs. They prefer a share cap for LCOs instead of taking it out from the 20 per cent that MSOs have. While the deadline to implement the order was 28 December 2018, TRAI offered respite to the sector handing an extension until 31 January 2019 to ensure a smooth transition.
With less than a month to go, DPOs have also started updating new channel prices and packages on their websites to inform consumers. Many large MSOs like Hathway, DEN Networks and Siti Cable have come up with "suggestive packs" bundling popular channels of all major broadcasters. Moreover, as TRAI has withdrawn its appeal before the Supreme Court to reinstate the 15 per cent cap on discounting of channel bouquets under the new regime, DPOs say now the order lacks value. As broadcasters now can give a discount of 50-60 per cent on bouqets keeping the a-la-carte channel price high, DPOs will not be in a position to package their products.
Given the fact that there will be some time needed for consumers to adjust to the new structure, broadcasters may call for a rating blackout for at least six to eight weeks. However, it will not be the first rating blackout. When the industry went from analogue to digital distribution, the ratings were held back for around nine weeks. Though initially there was chaos, later both cable operators and DTH platforms reaped benefit from digitisation. “TRAI tariff order implementation provides transparency in the system and gives more choice to the consumer. Dish TV has been prepared to implement the new tariff order and stands to benefit with faster and healthier growth,” India’s largest operator Dish TV feels.
Standing at the next revolution in TV industry, time will tell how the new regime will pan out for stakeholders.
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MIB to hold MSO conference on 18 December
MUMBAI: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB), through Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Ltd (BECIL), is organising a conference of MSOs, the cable TV industry representatives, that will be held on 18 December in New Delhi. The discussions will pertain to several issues related to broadband services through cable TV networks.
The aim is to discuss various issues as well as seek views of MSOs about feasibility, affordability, and ubiquity on the issue of broadband services through cable TV networks, infrastructure required for the same and modalities of payment and segregation of revenue earned for broadband activities.
One of the major topics which will be in focus is the willingness of the operators to invest in the infrastructure required. The payment of 8 per cent adjusted gross revenue (AGR) as a fee to DoT, whether to be paid only on the broadband services or on overall revenue earned in respect of both the businesses will be also discussed. The need of creating a separate entity for broadband activities for segregation of the revenue earned on it will be also examined.
As per the MIB release, the conference will see participation from major MSOs, MIB, DOT, TRAI and BECIL officials.
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Gsat-11, India’s heaviest comms satellite, launched
NEW DELHI: Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s heaviest and most-advanced high throughput communication satellite GSAT- 11 was successfully launched from the Spaceport in French Guiana during the early hours of today.
The launch vehicle Ariane 5 VA-246 lifted off from Kourou Launch Base, French Guiana at 2.07 am (IST) carrying India’s GSAT-11 and South Korea’s GEO-KOMPSAT-2A satellites, as scheduled. Ariane 5 is one of three launch vehicles operated by Arianespace along with Soyuz and Vega.
After a 30-min flight, GSAT-11 separated from the Ariane 5 upper stage in an elliptical geosynchronous transfer orbit. The achieved orbit was very close to the intended one.
The 5,854-kg GSAT-11 will provide high data rate connectivity to users of Indian mainland and islands through 32 user beams in Ku-band and 8 hub beams in Ka-band.
“GSAT-11 will boost the broadband connectivity to rural and inaccessible gram panchayats in the country coming under the Bharat Net project, which is part of Digital India programme,” ISRO chairman Dr K Sivan said.
The Bharat Net project aims to enhance the public welfare schemes like e-banking, e-health, e-governance and entertainment services among others.
Sivan said GSAT-11 will act as a forerunner to all future high throughput communication satellites. “Today’s successful mission has boosted the confidence of the entire team,” he added.
This 10th mission in 2018 reflects the availability and flexibility of Arianespace, which has performed a launch every two weeks since 6 November, the European company said on its website, adding since the launch of India’s APPLE experimental satellite on Ariane Flight L03 in 1981, Arianespace has won nearly all of India’s geostationary orbit launch contracts opened to non-Indian launch vehicles, and has signed 24 launch contracts with the Indian space agency.
GSAT-11 is the 22nd satellite from ISRO to be launched by Arianespace, and the largest and heaviest satellite ever built by India’s space agency. Arianespace has two other ISRO satellites in its order book to launch: GSAT-30 and GSAT-31. The latter, GSAT-31, will be lifted by Arianespace early next year.
GSAT-11 was initially planned for launch on 25 May 2018 but was rescheduled with the ISRO citing the need for additional technical checks.
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GTPL cable TV business revenue up in second quarter
BENGALURU: Indian multi-system operator and internet service provider GTPL Hathway Ltd (GTPL) reported 13.8 percent increase in total income for the quarter ended 30 September 2018 (Q2 2019, quarter or period under review) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter (y-o-y) Q2 2018. GTPL’s Total Income in Q1 2019 was Rs 317.40 crore, for the corresponding year ago quarter it was Rs 278.88 crore.
GTPL has two segments – cable TV business and internet service. Cable TV business operating result increased 82.1 percent y-o-y to Rs 15.99 crore in Q2 2019 from Rs 8.78 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Operating revenue of GTPL’s cable TV business increased 15.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 276.69 crore from Rs 239.32 crore.
GTPL’s unternet service operating revenue in Q2 2019 was almost flat – it increased 0.3 percent y-o-y to Rs 35.75 crore from Rs 35.64 crore. Internet service segment’s operating results for Q2 2019 declined by 99.6 percent y-o-y to just Rs 0.01 crore from Rs 3.67 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.
GTPL’s consolidated profit after tax (PAT) increased 28.5 percent y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 16.01 crore from Rs 12.45 crore in Q2 2018. Consolidated total comprehensive income for the period increased 33.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 16.79 crore from Rs 12.55 crore. Consolidated operating profit (EBITDA) excluding other income increased 11.5 percent y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 85.20 crore (27.3 percent of operating or op revenue) from Rs 76.39 crore (27.8 percent of op revenue) in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal.
Let us look at the other numbers reported by GTPL Hathway
Consolidated total expenditure increased 15.7 percent y-o-y during the quarter under review to Rs 294.74 crore from Rs 254.81 crore in Q2 2018. Pay channel cost in Q2 2019 increased 20.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 132.33 crore from Rs 109.89 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Other operational costs reduced 10.6 percent y-o-y in Q2 2019 to Rs 20.98 crore from Rs 23.46 crore in Q2 2018.
Employee benefits expense in Q2 2019 increased 9.5 percent y-o-y to Rs 35.81 crore from Rs 32.70 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous fiscal. Finance costs increased 68.8 percent y-o-y during the quarter under review to Rs 17.91 crore from Rs 10.61 crore. Other expenses in the period increased 17.2 percent y-o-y to Rs 38.12 percent in Q2 2019 from Rs 32.52 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.