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  • APOS 2020: Why Indian pay TV still holds a lot of potential

    APOS 2020: Why Indian pay TV still holds a lot of potential

    KOLKATA: Even as the doomsayers have been predicting impending doom for India’s television business and tomtomming the growth of streaming services, Tata Sky CEO Harit Nagpal and IndiaCast Media Distribution Group CEO Anuj Gandhi believe that there’s tremendous scope to grow pay-TV in India. Taking part in a roundtable as part of Media Partners Asia’s virtual APOS 2020, both said television has barely been penetrated yet. 

    Tata Sky’s Harit Nagpal – who's running, arguably, one of India's most respected DTH platforms – highlighted that there is a distribution game which needs to be played well. Nagpal mentioned two ways that the business can get a growth impetus: one is reaching out to the un-penetrated households and secondly selling more to existing consumers.

    He backed his statement with facts. According to Nagpal, 100 million homes in India are TV-less, and would go on to buy one eventually. Moreover, 35 million TV watchers have subscribed to free to air service DD Freedish. According to him, the Indian consumers are gradually moving from no TV to FTA to pay-TV, acknowledging that those in the higher end of pay-TV spectrum in urban areas are migrating to OTT and broadband. While he acknowledged the movement to OTT, he also mentioned that it is slower compared to the growth of linear TV and it will continue for a while.

    “Households without a TV have not bought one so far, and those that bought one have moved to FTA because they could not afford the Rs 300 plan which the platforms charge,” says Nagpal.

    Hence, he added that expecting them to pay Rs 1000 for bandwidth to watch Rs 300 worth of content is a bit much. He stated that they would start with linear TV paying only for content while they may migrate to new media in the next decades. 

    “In the last two years, we have seen a huge surge in small screen viewing of content essentially because data cost was abysmally low. As the data prices find their right level, which is what it should be, I guess the projections we all are making will level up,” he stated.

    Indiacast’s Gandhi agreed with Nagpal’s view on the distribution game and the growth opportunity. He pointed out while pay TV’s potential has been spoken about a lot, the industry has barely made any change in the past six-seven years. 

    The silver-lining is that fictitious numbers of cable subscribers were floating up in the market before the NTO while after its implementation the industry now agrees on the number of 120-130 million paying subs. According to Gandhi, the growth opportunity is low-ARPU market which is partly either on DD or getting pirated content needs to be converted. This ongoing process cannot be taken away by streaming services.

    Moreover, Gandhi stated that the pandemic has made the industry realise that overly depending on advertising revenue is a troubling trend. Until now, content players have not focused on subscription revenue by not creating cohorts or not helping the platforms to plan for a better ARPU or upselling. Hence, while there are opportunities in the pay-TV business: one has to build a robust subscription model by tweaking, changing, remodelling the existing one.

    The statistic of 500 million smartphone users has been touted enough but Gandhi noted that all of them may not have four-inch plus screens or enough memory to have more than seven-eight apps on their devices. Hence, he opined that despite the fact that a part of the high-end consumers have started subscribing to streaming services – some of them live –  using connected TVs and devices, linear TV cannot be replaced for most of the consumers. 

  • Hathway appoints Pradeep Hejmadi as CMO

    Hathway appoints Pradeep Hejmadi as CMO

    MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom Pvt Ltd appointed Pradeep Hejmadi as the chief marketing officer in April. Among many developments, the appointment went unnoticed.

    Hejmadi comes with more than two decades of experience in the media and entertainment sector. He was associated with brands like Discovery India, Zee TV, Turner and MTV. 

    “Seasoned leader with deep knowledge of consumer research and advanced analytics, experienced in building and leading large, multi-disciplinary teams in matrix organizations. Passion of transforming datasets into business insights, driving operational efficiency and effectiveness in transnational organisations,” Hejmadi’s LinkedIn profile says. 

  • TRAI consultation: B’casters insist on framework, stakeholder-based industry body for CAS/SMS

    TRAI consultation: B’casters insist on framework, stakeholder-based industry body for CAS/SMS

    MUMBAI: While one of the prime targets of digitisation, the cable industry, was bringing transparency, the irregularities in the conditional access system (CAS) and subscriber management systems (SMS) have been major concerns for broadcasters. Bringing a ray of hope to many broadcasters, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released a consultation paper seeking comments on the issue. In their submissions, all broadcasters have strongly advised a need to define a framework for CAS/SMS systems and an industry body to be entrusted with the responsibility. 

    Star India said that there is an urgent need to define a framework for CAS/SMS systems to benchmark the minimum requirements of the system before these can be deployed as presently there are many CAS and SMS systems deployed that do not have required features and capabilities for securing content and reporting accurate subscriber numbers. It added that robust framework is required in order to ensure that there is no possibility of manipulation of records and piracy/illegal retransmission of signals of channels by deployment of sub-standard CAS and SMS systems as the same leads to loss of revenue to the operator, broadcaster as well as to the government in form of taxes.

    It also recommended that the technical framework must be strengthened by forming an autonomous body that will be responsible for defining the framework, accreditation of the vendors, ensuring timely upgradation of Schedule III technical specification and operational requirements and continued compliance by the CAS and SMS vendors with the requirements of Schedule III. The broadcaster added that the autonomous body may be set up by representatives of broadcasters or DPOs or CAS and SMS vendors only. This body shall be entrusted with the task of accreditation, upgradation of specifications with the involvement of technical experts, and through a consultative process with relevant stakeholders defining the framework. 

    “However, till such time the autonomous body is set up, it is imperative that Schedule III of the interconnect regulations be amended at the earliest to reflect the proposed changes and to enable strict compliance of the requirements of the amended Schedule III by DPOs and CAS and SMS vendors in order to eliminate under-declaration, manipulation of subscriber numbers and illegal retransmission of TV signals and to enable the integrity of CAS and SMS systems. In the interim until the finalisation and setting up of the autonomous body, the CAS and SMS vendors shall be held responsible for compliance of Schedule III, through the DPO and the SLA between them, it added further.” 

    Schedule III of the interconnection regulation specifies the benchmark features or technical criteria that the systems are required to comply with. In addition, there are provisions in Schedule III that entail CAS and SMS systems to conform to certain technical features to check the piracy.

    Zeel Entertainment Enterprises Ltd (Zeel) said there is a need to define the minimum basic functionality (MBF) for every CAS/SMS system to be approved in the country. Irrespective of the technology deployed, the few basic criteria should be met. 

    However, Zeel has suggested different entities rather than one autonomous body. “There are different roles which need to be performed by a different set of entities so that checks and balances are maintained and there is a concept of maker, checker, reviewer, auditor and adjudicator. The role of setting standards for CAS, SMS, MUX and DHE should ideally reside with a multidisciplinary body which has representation from relevant ministries of the government, TRAI, CDAC, STQC, broadcasters, major distribution platforms, major CAS, SMS, MUX, STB, DHE vendors, chip manufacturers, device manufacturers and noted academicians of international repute and TRAI empanelled auditors.

    “Such an agency could work under the direct supervision of TRAI as they are well versed with the intricate issues of the industry and can bring realistic elements in a timebound manner. The body/agency drafting standards should not overlap with either the body/agency providing the certification and/or the body/agency in the role of audit of these systems at a later stage. All these three units should be watertight and completely mutually exclusive,” it added. 

    According to Zeel, there should be a designated agency to carry out the testing and certification to ensure compliance with such a framework. It mentioned that TEC is the agency which is appropriately placed to carry such testing as they have been doing the same for Telco equipment and have processes and procedures in place for same. In addition to that, TEC has no direct involvement with the routine activities of the broadcasting sector, it will be able to act as an independent accreditor. 

    Times Network also feels that changes are needed. “We feel that there is a need to define a standardised technical framework for CAS/ SMS systems to benchmark the minimum requirements of the system before these can be deployed by any DPO in India. The deployment of CAS/ SMS systems is suggested to be based on advanced embedded system backed by mandatory tests and necessary. CAS must comply with CSA-2 or CSA-3 standards of scrambling algorithm and embedded in SoC (“Security on Chip”) in STB,” it said.

    It has also highlighted that the standards should be made keeping in mind that these are at par with global standards and are also useful from middleware perspective. It added that there may be a specific SOC for CAS TO minimise the chances of hacking. It should be endeavoured that no sub-standard systems can be deployed.

    “We feel that an independent, autonomous, neutral body should be set up for defining the framework for CAS and SMS in India. The autonomous body may be set up by representatives of broadcasters, DPOs, CAS and SMS vendors, technology vendors, manufacturer or importers of devices, representatives of R&D Centres, members of regulatory bodies etc. who can be assisted by trained investigators, legal and law enforcement members, cryptography analysts and system/network security auditors,” the broadcaster added. 

    Echoing the tone of Zeel, Times added that the autonomous body should take into consideration global best practices and standards while proposing and suggesting the framework or technical standards for India. 

    Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN) is also of the opinion that there is an urgent need to define a framework for CAS and SMS/Systems to benchmark the requirements of the systems due to the reasons as stated in the foregoing clauses. Such new frameworks should be effective for all the existing systems as well. 

    “We firmly believe that this would also help protection of content, removal of rampant piracy and under-declaration of subscriber base and enhancement of consumer choices and experience thereby benefiting all the stakeholders. Hence the urgency to create a framework that would look at resolving the issues as raised herein. Further, the CAS and SMS vendors supplying their systems to the DPOs within India should also be mandated to follow the Schedule III requirements read with the TRAI regulations strictly and they should be made accountable for the same,” it added. 

    SPN has also proposed an independent industry body comprising mainly the technical members from all the stakeholders including government, broadcasters, DPO and the OEMs to define a framework for the concerned issue in the country. The task of this body should be to primarily define and set the framework for CAS and SMS/Systems, which should be a benchmark for future deployments. 

    “A standardised framework is required for CAS/SMS systems to benchmark the minimum requirements of the systems before it can be deployed by any DPO in India. Unsecured CAS/SMS system may lead to theft of broadcaster’s content and cause loss to the public exchequer. Substandard CAS/SMS system also impacts the performance of STBs thereby leading to unnecessary harassment of end-users,” TV18 stated. 

    Like its competitors, the broadcaster reiterated that industry body comprising of stakeholders from every level of the value chain should be entrusted with the task of defining the framework for CAS and SMS in India and that an industry-led body is best-suited solution that ought to be considered for the same. 

    “The industry body, thus, incorporated should take into consideration the framework adopted worldwide such as Movie Labs, IBCAP, DVB, etc. while defining the framework for India. However, it is necessary that DPOs, as well as CAS and SMS vendors, are made amenable to the Industry Body. In this regard, requirements such as, mandating CAS and SMS vendors to register as other service providers should be introduced,” it added. 

  • Decoding Covid2019 impact on GTPL Hathway’s cable, broadband business

    Decoding Covid2019 impact on GTPL Hathway’s cable, broadband business

    MUMBAI: As the country is struggling with the Covid2019 pandemic, cable TV and internet have acted as the nervous system to keep people informed and entertained. Due to the need of staying connected, the cable and broadband service providers like GTPL Hathway have seen a surge in demand on both sides of the business.

    GTPL Hathway will re-evaluate strategies after observing the Covid2019 impact; however, the company’s business is not much impacted at this stage as people are watching more TV, and consuming more data. This means that consumers are upgrading existing packs.

    “If you see the subscriber base (on the cable side), we have grown by 10 per cent this year. We are going to grow more, if all things go well. So the target is to grow more than 10 per cent on subscriber base. And on the revenue side also we want to maintain our CAGR of what we did in the last four years,” GTPL Hathway CATV business head and chief strategy officer Piyush Pankaj said in an earnings call.

    While on-ground collections have been a major issue for a large number of MSOs, the company has given online payment facilities to the local cable operators (LCO) also. “LCO has also started collecting online. We have given that facility to the LCOs that they can collect online from their subscribers, which is going directly to their bank account and then digitally they are paying us. And we have given some relaxation on that way. So the situation is totally under control. And we are getting the collections as projected,” Pankaj said.

    Since free-to-air broadcasters have been adversely affected by dwindling advertising revenue, there might be re-negotiation on carriage fee and placement fee if the current turmoil persists. However, with 70-75 per cent revenue coming from placement, carriage and marketing side from pay broadcasters, the company is not foreseeing any impact on that.

    While upping the broadband game significantly, it has also added around 80k subscribers in FY20. As the company reached 30k net subscribers’ addition in the last quarter, it aims to maintain and increase that trend. Hence, it is looking at 120k to 150k subscribers in FY 21.

    “The residential customers have gone up in the last 30 days, both on the broadband side and cable side. But commercial customers like shops, offices, restaurants, hotels have come down. So you can say it's more of a net-net for both the businesses, for the broadband and the cable. We are not getting renewals for commercial restaurants, offices, and hotels. But there is a surge in the residential connections,” Pankaj said.

  • GTPL Hathway increases CAPEX in upgrading network, 70% transmitted into GPON technology

    GTPL Hathway increases CAPEX in upgrading network, 70% transmitted into GPON technology

    MUMBAI: Traditional distributors like cable operators are feeling the heat of the competition from a number of easily accessible streaming services. But large multi-system operators are not sitting idle to watch the ruin of their long-built businesses. Hence, constantly upgrading has become the key to adapt in changing business environment. GTPL Hathway is one of them which is putting more CAPEX in upgrading the network and moving towards a hybrid model of business.

    The company is looking at Rs 250-260 crore CAPEX for FY 21 and around Rs 150 crore to Rs 160 crore will go into the cable business; the rest will go into the broadband business. But it will have to reevaluate it somewhere in quarter two to see what is the Covid2019 effect and how much longer the effect is going to be. 

    GTPL Hathway chairman and non-executive director Rajan Gupta explains in an investors call that a significant amount of CAPEX has been invested in upgrading the network. While the MSO was earlier relying on Metro Ethernet Network (MEN) technology,  most of that has been upgraded now to fiber-to-building (FTTB) and fiber-to-home (FTTH). 

    He adds that they have seen see a huge increase in network training also in the last few quarters or a few months. 

    “We have to divide it into two parts. One is something called an access network and second is the last mile consumer equipment. So access network is capable of handling anything. On the last mile, you put two consumer premises equipment, or you put a hybrid equipment. And as far as legal is concerned, cable and broadband have separate licenses, one is MIB and second is the DoT. So, in any case, combined bill, etc., is not possible because both have different licensing requirement. So we have to differentiate between the access network technology and the last mile which is the consumer home,” Gupta speaks about the required investment for upgradation.

    GTPL Hathway CATV business head and chief strategy officer Piyush Pankaj says that now almost 70 per cent network is transmitted into GPON technology i.e, FTTH or FTTX. He also adds that they are working on the hybrid box and the order has been given. While the launch of the hybrid boxes, the combined business of cable, broadband and OTT together was scheduled somewhere in July, it may be extended it by one quarter due to Covid2019 crisis. He notes that they want to take benefit of these opportunities of all latest technologies to serve their customers better. 

    Jio, the shareholder of GTPL Hathway, is also focusing on broadband business highly. But GTPL Hathway promoter and managing director Anirudhsinh Jadeja mentions that Jio is not launching any cable TV business, so it isn't posing any additional competition. “They are majorly into the broadband business. So, yes, it's a privilege that Jio is our partner and we have almost very good understanding and we have a lot of synergy in terms of the infrastructure sharing and content sharing. So, we are not seeing right now any competition from Jio. We are complementing each other,” he adds.

    “See, all the synergies (with Jio) and benefits we are getting as GTPL Hathway will continue as usual, such as, from all the vendor negotiations, lease line side, etc. Yes, GTPL Hathway is doing its own broadband business as we are mainly doing it in Gujarat. Jio is with us, it's our privilege and we are going to complement each other's business on the ground,” Pankaj adds.

    The MSO launched Giga HD last year where it started providing cable and broadband together but had to roll it back just because of the NTO which was getting implemented. Now, it is coming with the hybrid box where it will provide cable, broadband and OTT together to the customer. The endeavour is to get double, triple or quadruple customers to take up the stickiness much higher. The company also seems less bothered about competition as it says all the areas where GTPL is operating there is no other private player but BSNL being the primary competition. 

  • Lockdown impact on cable operators: Drop in STB sale and collection from connections

    Lockdown impact on cable operators: Drop in STB sale and collection from connections

    MUMBAI: Despite higher viewership of linear television during the lockdown, the cable operators’ business in India has felt the heat of the Covid2019 pandemic. While sales of new set-top boxes and collection for existing connections witnessed a drop, customers down-traded packs. Due to these factors, especially in view of customers opting for cheaper packs, the multi-system operators (MSOs) expect a high double-digit decline in FY21 revenues.

    According to a survey done by INTIN on 92 MSOs (six per cent of overall base) across India, 63 per cent of cable operators maintained or improved their performance during the lockdown, overcoming several circumstantial challenges. Consumers also seem to be more satisfied as the number of received complaints increased for only 26 per cent operators.

    While many MSOs have stated during the period that they could not provide new connections due to restrictions, the survey points to their concerns. Sales of the new box dropped for 75 per cent of the operators. Moreover, the collection also dropped for 84 per cent of cable operators which could be attributed to the unwillingness for digital payment and the lack of infrastructure, coupled with the social distancing norms.

    Consumer sentiment is not high across industries due to the current economic scenario. It has reflected in the TV distribution business also as 41 per cent of operators experienced consumers down-trading to cheaper packs. Only nine per cent of the operators have witnessed addition of channels. There was an increase in demand for news channels and movie channels along with cable TV channels, but sports, GECs and infotainment reported a drop in demand.

    Owing to all the factors, 77 per cent of MSOs expect their revenues in 2020-21 to drop whereas 32 per cent expect this drop to be more than 25 per cent. However, 66 per cent also do not plan any drop in the pack prices. 

    OTT threat

    While Covid2019 has posed an unprecedented challenge for the MSOs, a larger – and long-term – challenge that is looming over them is the increasing consumer shift to over-the-top (OTT) platforms. Majority of cable operators (54 per cent) anticipate a negative impact of OTT on the cable TV business. However, some of the operators are already bringing change to their business model. For example, 25 per cent of cable operators have already launched their own OTTs. Fifty-seven per cent of operators are selling broadband service also with the hunger for data and higher bandwidth increasing across the country. But the statistics clearly indicate that a large number of MSOs are yet to upgrade their business models.

    Amid this difficult scenario, the report also suggests some healthy practices, such as 100 per cent online payment, launch of targeted consumers offers, easy instalment payment methods, focusing on own content, including launch of OTT and pure cable channels to prevent the de-growth. 

  • We are not a cable TV company but a digital services provider: IMCL’s Vynsley Fernandes

    We are not a cable TV company but a digital services provider: IMCL’s Vynsley Fernandes

    MUMBAI: Innovation is the key to sustain any business. With newer entrants capturing market share, emerging alternatives to traditional TV, the cable operators in the country have focused on creating a diverse portfolio of services. IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd. (IMCL) CEO Vynsley Fernandes, who believes in innovation to stay ahead of the competition, says it is not a cable television company but a digital services provider.

    “We have launched broadband as our combo pack. Today, we are not a cable television company. We are a digital services provider. We provide video broadband and data to consumers’ homes. When we work with cable providers, we groom them to become digital service providers,” Fernandes said during a virtual fireside chat with Indiantelvision.com founder, CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

    He mentioned that all the major cable operators have moved to fibre and provide both broadband and cable because they understand the need to have a diversified portfolio. According to him, the cable operators are ahead of the curve as they have been providing broadband well before the bigger players entered.

    “You have to keep on innovating. There is no other rule book in this business for success other than innovation. Everyone – DTH, cable TV, OTT – has to innovate to stay ahead of the curve. Can you build home security products built into it? Can you create payment gateways? The only way to keep innovating new products,” he stated.

    About the broadband business, he said that they have a subscriber base of 300,000 which is growing very rapidly. “The good part is you need not have one at the cost of the other. Today our product is a combo product. We are offering fibre to the home, a high-value pack: 750 channels on cable television. So consumers are opting for cable, data, and broadband. Will there be a skew? Yes, there will be a skew. But technology will evolve but the ethos and principles will remain fundamental to the business,” he added.

    Fernandes added that they have spent the last year ensuring that the subscriber base is built up again while it was affected during the rollout of new tariff order (NTO). Hence, IMCL closed the year with a large number of subscribers migrating back to IMLC. It also crossed five million-mark in the month of March.

    “Cable continues to work in the highly-dense markets, urban areas like Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, and to some extent places like Ahmedabad, Nagpur, etc. But our focus will always be major cities. We don’t have a major presence in Kolkata, but we are building it there. The cable works well because we are able to bundle it with broadband. In all our city markets we have been able to do that. HITS was always designed as a product to reach consumers in tier-3-4 markets and it has lived up to its reputation. Close to sixty-five per cent of our HITS base is from rural markets. Another 35 per cent is probably a mix between tier-2 and tier-3 markets. Our growth has continued in rural markets,” he added.

    The veteran professional in the industry also said that during the last six months, a lot of businesses including competitors have realized that the future lies in collaboration. IMCL has also been working with some large pan-India MSOs to provide managed services through its HITS platform. The MSOs were also facing challenges of fibre cuts in rural India because the subscriber servicing cost (SSC) in rural India is much higher than cities because the density is much more.

    “In our company today, with the WFH in place, everyone is given a new role. How can they innovate and work differently? The challenge is on revenue and margins. Revenues are going to be hit, but margins will be hit harder. The only way to do that is to substantiate the margins by building layers. So you have a cable TV layer, and you build broadband and offer OTT with it; not your own OTT, but partnering with someone to offer it as a hybrid product. You build a digital payment app over. So you build a stack of useful products. It is going to be tough and challenging in the coming days,” Fernandes commented.

  • Den Networks turns around biz, reports consolidated PAT of Rs 22.52 crore

    Den Networks turns around biz, reports consolidated PAT of Rs 22.52 crore

    MUMBAI: Major multi system operator (MSO) Den Networks  reported a consolidated profit after tax of Rs 22.52 crore in the fourth quarter ending 31 March 2020.

    The MSO reported consolidated net loss of Rs 212.82 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal. Revenue from operations in the fourth quarter stood at Rs 327.79 crore as compared with Rs 273.1 crore in the year-ago period.

    While its revenue from cable distribution network stood at Rs 310.18 crore in the January-March quarter as compared with Rs 255.11 crore in the corresponding period of previous fiscal, the broadband vertical had a revenue of Rs 17.62 crore as compared to Rs 17.99 crore in the fourth quarter of last FY.

    For FY20, the MSO’s consolidated profit after tax stood at Rs 58.64 crore while it had posted a consolidated loss of Rs 300.55 crore in 2018-19. Its consolidated revenue from operations in FY20 stood at Rs 1291.45 crore compared to  Rs 1206.07 crore in the previous fiscal.

  • IMCL launches innovative packages for subscribers to stay connected

    IMCL launches innovative packages for subscribers to stay connected

    MUMBAI:  IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL), the media vertical of the global Hinduja Group, has implemented a slew of innovative products and solutions to help its Local Cable Operators (LCOs) and its millions of subscribers across India to ensure access to quality content amid the COVID-19 lockdown.

    IMCL – which owns a digital cable platform (InDigital) and the only HITS platform (NXTDIGITAL) in the country – has rolled out a significantly low-cost package for subscribers called the Vishesh Manoranjan Pack. 

    This pack, which gives subscribers access to over 400 television channels, includes the popular NXT Value Added Services package, comprising up to 20 unique channels for its subscribers. The package can be activated immediately and LCOs can make the payment till16 April 2020. The credit period effectively allows for LCOs to collect the payment after the lockdown is lifted.

    Further, to ensure uninterrupted dissemination of critical information during this challenging period, IMCL has worked with its LCO partners to activate its special InfoPack, at zero cost for customers who are unable to make any payment. This will enable subscribers to stay connected with all Doordarshan channels, including news and entertainment.

    These packages come close on the heels of a slew of initiatives taken by IMCL to ensure safety of its LCOs and subscribers. IMCL has provided critical awareness and education through its national network of LCOs, multiple platforms and portals – in 11 languages, through posters, pamphlets, e-books and video messaging. To help subscribers remain connected, IMCL has extended its online recharge facility through Easebuzz, where subscribers can make their payment directly to their LCOs online, thereby eliminating any level of interaction.

    IMCL CEO Vynsley Fernandes said: “We remain committed towards the well-being of our LCO partners and subscribers. At the time of a global crisis, our endeavour is to consistently create awareness and the dissemination of critical information, to ensure the safety and protection of all our stakeholders. These packages, especially our InfoPack at zero cost, are in line with that philosophy.”

  • Inside SITI Networks’ effort to grapple with COVID-19 crisis

    Inside SITI Networks’ effort to grapple with COVID-19 crisis

    MUMBAI: All of a sudden, our normal life has gone for a toss with the mandatory stay-at-home in place in order to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. As all physical options of communication, entertainment are now out of reach, traditional TV, online content, and the internet have emerged as a boon. Government has also declared cable TV and broadband a part of essential services during this time.

    SITI Network’s business continuity plan:

    Quickly grasping this situation and the importance of maintaining its services, as an effort to keep customers at home, SITI Networks has been working with its partners and governmental agencies to ensure that “the show must go on”. Its employees have upped the ante and are striving to ensure that customers’ connectivity remains intact so that they can remain at home. Multiple teams of technically trained and dedicated personnel are continuously working at the grassroots level to deal with any inconvenience to ensure that digital TV and broadband run smoothly for SITI’s 45 million customers. All this is happening despite not having full support from local administrations.

    SITI even released a best practice guide for its customers and partners on the SITI Information Channel 999 on its network. This guide informs customers on how to keep their connectivity running while keeping social distancing. SITI has also made available the option of Quick Recharge on its website www.sitinetworks.com, for the convenience of the customers. Through this, customers can recharge their account by sitting at home and without contacting LCO. The MSO has shared an educational video also with its consumers.

    SITI Networks CEO Anil Malhotra said: “We are in this fight, and have to ensure that our customers stay at home. In the words of our Dr Subhash Chandra, this will be our national service. In this battle, SITI employees strive to keep people stay indoors by providing them entertainment and information of their choice and preferences at home. The entire team is engaged to run the services smoothly. Our teams are maintaining the chain by their sheer willpower so that the Corona virus chain can be broken”.