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Tag: Den Networks

  • Mukesh Ambani’s RIL announces acquisition of majority stake in Hathway & DEN Networks

    Mukesh Ambani’s RIL announces acquisition of majority stake in Hathway & DEN Networks

    MUMBAI: Reliance Industries today announced strategic investments of Rs. 2,045 crore through a preferential issue under SEBI regulations and secondary purchase of Rs. 245 crore from the existing promoters for a 66 per cent stake in Den Networks Limited (DEN) and Rs 2,940 crore for a 51.3 per cent stake in Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited.

    RIL is also planning to make open offers in DEN and Hathway as well as GTPL Hathway a company jointly controlled by Hathway with 37.3 per cent stake and Hathway Bhawani Cabletel and Datacomm Limited, a subsidiary of Hathway under SEBI Takeover Regulations.

    Through this transaction, Reliance and Jio will be strengthening the 27,000 LCOs that are aligned with DEN and Hathway to enable them to participate in the digital transformation of India  through  (a) access  to  superior  back-end  infrastructure;  (b) tie-ups  with  content producers; (c) access to latest business platforms to improve business efficiencies and deliver customer experience; and (d) investment in digital infrastructure for connecting customers. And the LCOs will continue to do what they do best – provide localized, intimate, people-friendly and ultra-fast customer services. This will create multiple future opportunities for LCOs as Jio rolls out new services and platforms.

    These investments and the creation of the digital eco-system will open up new channels for content monetization. This will lead to exponential growth for the content producers and broadcasters.

    These investments will help in accelerating the march towards Digital India. Reliance will ensure compliance with all the regulatory and statutory requirements at all times and works towards systematic growth of the sector.

    Jio has already started work on connecting 50 million homes across 1,100 cities. It will work together with Hathway and DEN and all the LCOs to offer a quick and affordable upgrade to a world-class lineup of JioGigaFiber and Jio Smart-Home Solutions to the 24 million existing cable connected homes of these companies across 750 cities. This will accelerate Jio’s commitment to connect 50 million homes with JioGigaFiber in the shortest possible time.

    RIL chairman and MD Mukesh D. Ambani said, “We are glad to join hands with Shri Rajan Raheja and Shri Sameer Manchanda, two of the pioneers in the MSO industry. Our investments in DEN and Hathway create a win-win-win outcome for the LCOs, customers, content producers and the eco-system.

    With Local Cable Operators now as part of the Jio ecosystem, we look forward to bringing Jio’s advanced JioGigaFiber and Smart Home Solutions to more Indian homes, even quicker. We look forward to welcoming other MSOs and LCOs to be part of this partnership. This will result in growing wireline data connectivity in India and making state-of-the-art high- speed affordable internet and digital services accessible to the widest population in the shortest possible time.”

  • DEN Networks aims for 70,000 broadband subscribers by Q1 2020

    DEN Networks aims for 70,000 broadband subscribers by Q1 2020

    MUMBAI: Way before Jio’s announcement of its broadband GigaFiber venture, MSO DEN Networks revealed its plan to explore the opportunities in the market. Following the rollout of broadband service in 28 cities by end of Q1 of this fiscal year as a part of its 100 cities plan, it has also signed up the agreement with 48 more cities. In terms of rolling out the service, the company is adding 20 more cities in Q2.

    Talking to investors in an analyst call, DEN Networks CEO SN Sharma informed that cable partners are investing equally well with the same kind of enthusiasm. After the launch of Jio GigaFiber, the company mentioned it would be working with LCOs. Sharma was asked about the impact of this on the partners on ground to which he debunked the possibility of ant negative impact on LCOs. “The announcement of the telco has further brought in standards you see that has helped us in regularising this tenders and qualities to be followed by the gentlemen, i.e., our cable partners and that is helping the entire business environment,” he said. In addition to that, he also mentioned that hardly 6.7 per cent of the penetration level has been achieved in the market as of now.

    Emphasising on the enthusiasm in the industry, he also said, “I am also surprised with the kind of enthusiasm that I am coming across and very soon we will be signing up with another 40-50 odd partners and then followed by LCOs and in Q2 we are supposed to deliver another 20 cities and I am quite confident that my team will give and overdo whatsoever assigned to them but that will be it is better that we talk at the end of Q2.”

    As DEN Networks has recently rolled out its service, it will still now take time to pick up due to the lengthy process. Going through LCOs to approach subscribers and then the subscriber coming back for the wired service takes a long time. In that context, rather than giving a high prediction, Sharma said the company hopes to deliver close to 40,000 to 50,000 subscribers by March 2019 and by the end of Q1 of next year to touch close to 70,000 subscribers. He predicts a ramped growth in FY 2020 as then penetration level will reach to 10 per cent. MSOs enable the homes where cable fibre already exists.

    “In the 28 new cities we have actually enabled one million home passes which are already there with us on the cable front so we are already reaching there but how many of those would actually get converted would depend on the interest levels. The moment the interest level comes in we obviously hook them up. We have already hooked up 8500 customers till now so we should be able to ramp it up,” DEN Networks CFO Himanshu Jindal said. For the 100 cities under the plan, 5 million set top box installations will be done.

    DEN’s 100 cities model is based on Rs 500-550 ARPU while in the existing 28 cities, it is capturing an ARPU of Rs 562. Sharma denied commenting on the upcoming tariff war as the pricing model from telcos is still not revealed. But indicating the price could go down, he mentioned that DEN can easily sustain till Rs 500 ARPU. It is only in metropolitan cities like Mumbai and Delhi that consumers are already experiencing 100 MB data speed. There are cities where the speed being demanded is 5MB, 20MB, 50MB. So there’s a large chunk of broadband-deprived internet users across the country.

    “So in any case the ARPU of Rs 500 where you are delivering 50MB speed and unlimited data is not a very conservative figure, I would say it is a very aggressive ARPU that we have put across and we should be able to justify it as things unfold and as times will come, we will handle the situation. In any case, the LCO partner is quite confident and they are coming forward and investing so that also adds the positivity with us,” Sharma’s tone reflected the preparedness for upcoming battle.

    However, the company has claimed to undertake a very low capex based plan. In the current year, the company will not spend more than Rs 30 crore unless it experiences more than the expected rush of this subscriber base which could mean some minor changes in the network.

  • Cable TV, DTH players cautiously optimistic on Jio fiber competition

    Cable TV, DTH players cautiously optimistic on Jio fiber competition

    MUMBAI: The terminator…, oops sorry, the disruptor is back. And, this time it is targeting India’s multi-billion-dollar cable TV and DTH businesses with promises to unleash high-speed fixed line fiber-based broadband services that aims to “connect everyone, and everything, everywhere” — at least in 1,100 cities to begin with. No wonder the legacy businesses are eyeing the announcement on the launch of Reliance Jio GigaFiber project with a mix of healthy skepticism and optimism.

    “It will be a challenge, but then this would increase general awareness about fixed-line broadband (FLBB) services as penetration of wired broadband is pretty low,” Kerala Communicators Cable Ltd (KCCL) CEO Shaji Mathews told Indiantelevision.com when asked about the big bang launch of Jio GigaFiber from 15 August 2018, which is also backed by Reliance Industries’ money power.

    According to Mathews, Jio GigaFiber rollout would help getting the focus back on good quality FLLB services as “over the years the industry in general had been focusing on and talking more about wireless broadband”. KCCL is an initiative of independent cable TV operators in Kerala under the guidance of Cable Operators Association (COA), an umbrella union of over 4,000 local cable operators functioning all over the southern state.

    What about the gorilla in the room? Mathews, who has spent almost a life time in the cable TV business, was of the opinion that Jio’s entry into the FLLB segment would “bring true value to real players as the capable cable ops will survive” the competition. “Moreover, as the cable companies are already on ground with existing businesses, they have an added benefit of existing fiber optics,” he added optimistically.

    Echoing similar sentiments SITI Networks Limited chief business officer Rajesh Sethi, while accepting further disruption — as in Jio fiber — was expected in the content delivery eco-system, said, “As we keep pace with changing technological trends, the industry is expected to become more multifaceted, efficient and customer centric.”

    A senior rep from another MSO company who didn’t want to be named felt that with the entry of cash-rich companies like Reliance Jio, it would help legacy players to “focus better” on the core business. “The new venture of Jio will also bring back investors’ focus on the sector, apart from increased awareness among consumers,” the MSO company exec added while talking to Indiantelevision.com.

    India’s FLBB penetration was expected to increase to 10.3 per cent from the present single digit share by year 2022 as per Singapore-based Media Partners Asia research. As content and applications were also getting heavier and denser in size gradually, there were fair chances that Jio could disrupt the market, while other players have equal opportunity too in this segment, the MPA analysis had stated some time back.

    An immediate effect of the Jio fiber project announcement was that shares of listed MSO companies like Hathway Cable & Datacom, Den Networks, GTPL Hathway and SITI Networks dropped in the early part of trading on Indian bourses. It must also be mentioned that shares of Reliance Industries too had dipped in early trading as RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani was addressing the shareholders at yesterday’s company annual general meeting.

    While the spotlight may be falling on cable operators and MSOs, there is no denying the fact that Jio GigaFiber could also impact the business plans of DTH platforms and incumbent telecom players like Airtel, Vodafone and even State-run BSNL as Jio plans to offer not only just FLBB, but also a host of other telecom and TV services, apart from smart solutions for the retail consumer’s home, in general.

    India’s DTH players, for example, felt that while fiber-based broadband services could be a good option for high-rise residential complexes in urban Indian cities, it would be a challenge to lay fiber in far-flung hilly areas or take the lines into homes in those places where houses are horizontally laid out.  

    For cities like Mumbai, Bengaluru and Gurugram, having rows and rows of high-rise gated residential complexes, fiber based broadband services was a good opportunity, but it would be an expensive affair for a row of houses, DTH operator Dish TV’s managing director Jawahar Goel was quoted by BloombergQuint as saying. He added: “For delivering the cable and DTH services, we will always have the competitive edge, as our cost is lesser.”

    Telcos like Bharti Airtel, considered India’s biggest operator in terms of market and subscriber shares, however, are expected to react to the impending Jio competition in FLLB by cutting subscription rates and handing out higher monthly data packages to consumers at reduced costs.

    Over the last few months, Airtel, for example, has been aggressively attempting to sell its high-speed digital fixed line broadband services to existing consumers in Delhi and National Capital Region, which includes areas like Gurugram and places like Vaishali and Kaushambi in Ghaziabad district and Noida — all having rows of high-rise residential complexes of various sizes with varied population.

    Meanwhile, telecom industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), which has been at loggerheads with member Reliance Jio over a slew of issues in the past, yesterday termed Jio’s fixed-line fiber broadband system as a “game changer” and said the company garnering over 200 million mobile users in a short span of time is “commendable”, according to a Press Trust of India report from New Delhi.

    “The announcements made by Mukesh Ambani (RIL chairman) have positioned RJio as an extensive technology company rather than just a telecom service provider. This is an interesting development and once the plans laid out today start taking shape, we can expect new streams of revenue to be initiated that will benefit the industry,” COAI director-general Rajan S Mathews was quoted by the wire service as having said in a statement.

    The PTI report also took note of a latest note from JP Morgan that said while there were no details yet on pricing of the upcoming optic fiber broadband service, it was of the view that given Jio’s customer acquisition strategy, the launch pricing should effectively be at a “large discount” to current broadband and set top box pricing prevalent.

  • Aim to take phase 3 ARPU to phase 1 value: Den Networks’ SN Sharma

    Aim to take phase 3 ARPU to phase 1 value: Den Networks’ SN Sharma

    MUMBAI: Den Networks has an ambitious plan charted out for its cable and broadband business for the coming two to three years. In an interview to Bloomberg Quint, Den Networks CEO SN Sharma highlighted the company’s plan to increase revenue and subscription.

    For the multi-system operator (MSO), digitisation of phase III in India was almost over 10 months ago and certain parts of phase IV were left by all operators. Sharma said that it may take six to eight months to wind this up. “In the last 12 months, we seeded close to five million set-top boxes (STBs) in phase III. Today, we have a tall figure of 11.5 million digital homes out of which 8.5 million are paying,” he said.

    The average revenue per user (ARPU) for Den has gone up substantially over the last two years. Even tier I and II towns had low ARPU of Rs 120 and Rs 80-90 a year ago. Two years ago, the ARPU for tier I and II towns was Rs 60-70 and Rs 50-60, respectively. Today, the ARPU is at Rs 144 for phase I and Rs 112 for phase II. Sharma also said that the company was able to make up 50 per cent of the subscription revenue from the cable operators from phase I while this was 40-45 per cent in phase II markets.

    Phase III ARPUs are still low at Rs 76 out of the ground rate of Rs 150-175. “As we move forward, cable operators know they have to catch up with phase I ARPUs and will gradually increase it with subscription and, accordingly, the same will be shared with us,” he added.

    The aim is to take the current ARPU of phase III up to Rs 144 in two years’ time. “The phase I journey has been successful and a confident path has been set. There is no reason this Rs 76 doesn’t move to Rs 140 level in 2-2.5 years’ time,” he said adding that 50 per cent of the digital universe was phase III and IV. Phase IV ARPU stands at Rs 66.

    Den is talking to broadcasters and peers to increase subscription levels in phase I areas and Sharma said that discussions were actively progressing. “There is headroom to increase this [subscription]. You will see changes in bouquets and packages offered so overall revenue can be taken up,” he shared.

    One of the ways to do this will be by focussing on HD STBs now. The target for the next 12 months is to convert 10 per cent of its SD base into HD, which will allow the MSO to add another Rs 60-70 per box. Another way is by gradually increasing the number of boxes seeded in phase IV that is currently at the rate of 40,000-50,000 a month.

    The company has a system to ensure that all reported boxes are activated. When a box doesn’t yield payment for more than three months, it is removed out of the declaration and considered a dead box. Here, Sharma lauds the system for being as efficient as telecom operators that withdraw service  if a subscriber doesn’t pay.

    The entrance of players like Jio, Airtel and Vodafone has definitely changed the broadband game for the company and Sharma admits this. Den’s broadband ARPU is currently Rs 550 with a speed of 50 mbps and unlimited data. He compared it to telcos who offer just 1 gb data a day with best case speed of 9 mbps.

    Over the years, data consumption on its platform has increased from 20 gb two years ago to 60 gb last year and is hovering at 80 gb today. “There is a data explosion courtesy Jio, Airtel and Vodafone. We are consciously aware of it and so we talk of unlimited data in high speed,” he said.

    Much of its broadband business is concentrated in Delhi with 2 lakh subscribers. However, the tariff war pulled down its ARPU to Rs 600. But the same in Kanpur is Rs 800. The plan is to increase subscribers by 6 lakh in three years taking the total to about 8 lakh.

    Sharma is confident that the entire business needs external funding since it is witnessing healthy growth in subscription and ARPU and no subsidy is being offered on HD boxes. Even the broadband business has been fibre infrastructure. About Rs 100-120 crore will be required for the coming three years, which will be managed through internal accruals.

    Also Read :

    Subscription revenue drives up Den’s PAT

    Den Networks appoints Himanshu Jindal as CFO

    TDSAT rules in favor of DEN Networks, directs ZEE entertainment to provide channels on RIO basis

     

  • Jio shifts focus to wired broadband

    Jio shifts focus to wired broadband

    MUMBAI: After bringing about a massive change in the usage of wireless internet and market dynamics, Reliance Jio is looking at the broadband or wired internet sector. According to a media report, Jio is working at full steam to launch broadband in homes towards the end of this year.

    Jio’s success in wireless internet with 168 million subscriber base is unquestionable. For the launch of the broadband service, the company has already started beta trials across some locations in country along with offering free broadband across regions in New Delhi and Mumbai. The trial service is offering unlimited internet at 100 mbps for a security deposit of Rs 4,500.

    “The full-fledged commercial launch is likely to be announced on 28 December, which happens to be late Dhirubhai Ambani’s birthday,” a person familiar with the development was quoted by Livemint in its report.

    A TRAI report earlier said that India had only 21.28 million wired internet subscribers compared with 424.67 million wireless internet subscribers in 2017. The major player in the segment is BSNL followed by Bharti Airtel. The low number of wired internet users leaves a big scope for Jio’s upcoming business. Airtel, Jio’s main competitor, provides high-speed wired broadband across 89 cities in India.

    While big players are chasing metro cities, cable TV distribution company DEN Networks Ltd has shifted its focus to small towns.

    “The tariff and stress of telcos is, as of now, focussed on the main metros. So we have made the game plan for tier 2 and tier 3 cities. We don’t want to be trapped in this (the war between telcos),” DEN Networks chief executive officer SN Sharma said.

    Tags: Jio, Airtel, BSNL, DEN Networks, Wired internet connection

    Also Read: 

    CCI okays RCom’s asset sale to Reliance Jio

    India’s jio wins “Best Mobile Operator Service for Consumers” at Global Mobile Awards 2018

     

  • DEN expands broadband services; plans Rs 100 cr capex

    DEN expands broadband services; plans Rs 100 cr capex

    MUMBAI: DEN Broadband Pvt Ltd (DEN) has expanded its hi-speed internet services to 100 cities across India. After an encouraging response to the pilot project in five cities, DEN has already started its first phase of expansion in 15 cities.

    DEN’s expansion plan is in sync with the massive growth in the internet consumption in the country. Data usage in India has already jumped by 144 per cent (y-o-y) with average consumption per user in 4G broadband reaching 11 GB per month. The rise in data consumption has not been matched by a corresponding increase in the speed of connection. While India globally ranks 67 in fixed broadband speeds with an average download speed of 20.72 Mbps, mobile broadband speeds still lags at 109th rank with an average download speed of 9.01 Mbps, as per Ookla’s speedtest Global Index, February 2018 report.

    DEN Networks CEO SN Sharma said: “This is a game changing moment not just for DEN but also for the Internet users in the country. Our hard work and investment in transforming our Co-ax cable trunk routes into fiber optics will now yield tangible results. For DEN it will mean a minimum investment whereas for our users it will mean best in class Internet speed.”

    The company intends to tap this high-potential market by capitalising on its existing cable TV infrastructure and providing hi-speed fixed broadband internet. With speeds upto 1Gbps at affordable prices, DEN Broadband will cater to the future needs of Internet while penetrating further into the untapped markets.

    DEN’s fibre cable infrastructure is already present across 13 states. The company plans to roll out through a franchisee model, which will leverage its strength as a leading national MSO with an established on-ground Cable LMO network to usher in a broadband revolution in the entire country. Its 14,000 plus LMO network would use its technology while adhering to the operational standards set by DEN. Being the franchisor, DEN will bill the subscribers directly and collect tariffs from them directly. The franchisee would get paid based on their agreement and size of their investment.

    The MSO’s fixed broadband infrastructure is being built using a mix of GPON/FTTX and metro ethernet technologies enabling download speeds from 20 Mbps till 1 Gbps. It estimates a capital expenditure of Rs 100 crore over the next three years. This expansion plan is targeted towards 100 cities across states where DEN has a strong foothold such as UP, Karnataka, Jharkhand and Uttarakhand.

  • TDSAT ‘reserves’ order on landing-page case

    TDSAT ‘reserves’ order on landing-page case

    NEW DELHI: Telecoms and disputes tribunal TDSAT on Thursday reserved its order—the judge will pronounce the verdict later—on a case filed by a few multi-system operators (MSO) on sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) decision to ban the use of boot-up or landing page for anything else other than promotion of the distribution platform’s services.

    TDSAT, after hearing all sides, including TRAI, will now give a direction later. The arguments, amongst other issues, revolved around the fact whether all laid down norms and procedures were followed by the regulator before passing an order on the landing page matter on 8 December 2017.

    “In order to protect the interest of service providers and consumers, and orderly growth of the sector, [TRAI] directs all broadcasters and distributors of TV channels to restrain from placing any registered satellite TV channel, on the landing page LCN or landing channel or boot-up screen within 15 days from the date of issuance of this direction,” the regulator had stated in its order, asserting it was well within its right and powers to do so.

    Soon after this directive was issued, a clutch of MSOs and TV channels, including Fastway (operating in Punjab and Haryana states), DEN Networks and the Times group, moved the TDSAT challenging the regulator’s diktat.

    The landing or the boot-up page is what a viewer sees first when a TV set and the connected set-top box are switched on. This page on the screen remains for a certain period of time after which the EPG or the electronic programming guide of the distribution service provider comes up. The landing page, considered hot real estate, usually carries paid advertisements of a TV channel programme or messages (like audience-measurement data relating to a particular TV channel or even initial sampling of a new channel). The commercial use of the landing page results in sizeable revenue for distribution platforms.

    Asked about the legality of the whole issue, lawyer Abhishek Malhotra, a partner in Bharucha & Partners, a law firm specialising in media sector-related cases, said, “The legal position on transparency required to be followed by TRAI under Section 11(4) of the Act is very clear and has been reiterated by the Supreme Court. It seems likely that non-observance by TRAI of this basic condition could result in the matter being remanded back before the merits of the matter are taken up.”

    While passing the directive on use of the landing page, TRAI had said it had received a number of representations from stakeholders stating the practice of placing a registered TV channel—whose audience data was recently released—on the landing page had the potential to influence TV-audience measurements.

    The genesis of this TRAI order is connected to the rousing debut of an English news channel last year, which got high viewership ratings from the audience-measurement agency and the data was questioned by a section of the competition on the grounds that some unethical practices were followed. It had then resulted in a public spat.

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  • TDSAT rules in favor of DEN Networks, directs ZEE entertainment to provide channels on RIO basis

    TDSAT rules in favor of DEN Networks, directs ZEE entertainment to provide channels on RIO basis

    In a major victory for DEN Networks – TDSAT (Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal) directed ZEE Entertainment Limited (ZEEL) to provide channels to DEN Networks on RIO basis dismissing ZEEL’s claim that SMS and CAS of DEN were not compliant with the regulations. 

    TDSAT has passed this order in favour of DEN Networks after taking cognizance of Broadcast Engineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) audit report which found that DEN’s systems are fully compliant with TRAI regulations. 

    Earlier, DEN had filed a petition in TDSAT to go on RIO with ZEEL till the time both the parties are not able to negotiate for agreed terms of settlement and further agreement on Content Subscription. And TDSAT in its order dated 15th January 2018 had directed  BECIL to hold an audit of the DEN Networks’ to find out whether it is regulation compliant or not.

    Both the parties are in dispute due to outstanding dues and non-renewal of their commercial arrangement which expired on December 31, 2017.  

    In its order, the Tribunal had also directed both the parties to appear before CA Mediator on February 5, 2018 and asked the Mediator to submit / furnish the result of the mediation proceedings within 10 days. 

    Accepting the request of BECIL for additional time, the Tribunal had granted it six weeks’ time to submit the audit report of three JV companies of DEN Networks having independent DAS license alongwith independent head-end separate CAS and SMS servers.  

    The Tribunal also asked DEN Networks to release the pending / outstanding dues of Rs 23.50 Crore which DEN had withheld subject to resolution of the dispute. 

  • Subscription revenue drives up Den’s PAT

    Subscription revenue drives up Den’s PAT

    MUMBAI: Multi-system operator (MSO) Den Networks’ financial results for Q3 2018 show consolidated revenue of Rs 330 crore as against Rs 293 crores in the corresponding quarter a year ago, up by 12 per cent. In Q2 2018, consolidated revenue stood at Rs 328 crore.

    Consolidated Q3 EBITDA (earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) stood at Rs 81 crore, 54 per cent higher than the Rs 53 crore reported a year ago but lower than the Rs 82 crore reported in the previous quarter. This EBITDA does not include the Rs 14 crore pertaining to entities that are not getting consolidated as per INDAS or else the overall consolidated EBITDA is Rs 95 crore.

    The MSO has been able to get higher subscriptions from phase III and IV markets with revenue growth from cable subscription 21 per cent higher than Q3 2017 and 6 per cent higher than Q2 2018. This was aided by 10 per cent higher average revenue per user (ARPU) collection from phase III areas on a quarter-on-quarter basis.

    Cable revenue stood at Rs 312 crore versus Rs 272 crore in the year ago quarter, up by 15 per cent. Cable EBITDA was Rs 82 crore, up from Rs 53 crore from Q3 2017, led by subscription growth and rationalisation of costs.

    Subscription revenue drove up consolidated PAT to Rs 2 crore from negative Rs 37 crore in Q3 FY2017 and Rs 1 crore in Q2 2018.

    The company stated that its broadband business was on track and that it managed to add 10,000 new subscribers during the quarter. Wired internet services will be rolled out to 10 new towns as part of its expansion. Cost optimisation initiatives have helped the broadband segment to break even which was negative Rs 1 crore in the previous quarter.

    Den Networks CEO SN Sharma said, “Den has been able to improve operational performance consistently every quarter with constant focus on increasing the subscription collections on the ground with a much controlled cost base. It is a time of pride and joy as we announce that as per the Trust Research Advisory research, Den has outshone all its competing brands and has emerged as the ‘Most attractive brand of 2017’ in the cable TV segment.”

    Also Read:

    Higher subscription & activation lead Den’s turnaround in Q2  

    DEN Networks tops as most attractive Cable TV brand: TRA Research

    Den Networks buys 51% in VBS Digital

  • Den Networks buys 51% in VBS Digital

    Den Networks buys 51% in VBS Digital

    MUMBAI: Multi-system operator Den Networks Ltd (Den) has acquired 51 per cent stake in cable televison distributor VBS Digital Distribution Network Pvt Ltd (VBS Digital) for Rs 2.64 crore in cash. According to Den’s release to the Bombay Stock Exchange, the deal will strengthen the company’s cable TV network in Uttar Pradesh.

    Den provides cable TV distribution and broadband services in 13 states, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, and Maharashtra. Incorporated in 2015, VBS Digital posted revenue of Rs 5.82 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2017.

    Promoters and Goldman Sachs together hold about 61.28 per cent stake in Den. In June 2017, Den had sold its entire stake in TV merchandise channel Macro Commerce Pvt Ltd to focus on the core business.

    Also read:

    Higher subscription & activation lead Den’s turnaround in Q2

    DEN Networks tops as most attractive Cable TV brand: TRA Research

    Nakul Chopra is new BARC chairman