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Tag: GTPL HATHWAY

  • GTPL Hathway reports higher subscription revenue, improved numbers for Q1-2021

    GTPL Hathway reports higher subscription revenue, improved numbers for Q1-2021

    BENGALURU: GTPL Hathway Ltd (GTPL) reported 19.3 percent growth in revenue for the quarter ended 30 June 2020 (Q1-2021, quarter or period under review) and 8.9 percent growth in the operating profit for its cable TV business (CATV business) as compared to the corresponding year ago quarter Q1 2020. The company’s consolidated revenue from operations for the quarter under review grew 10.8 percent year on year (y-o-y) while consolidated total income expanded 10.1 percent in Q1 2021 as compared to Q1 2020. Consolidated profit after tax grew 39.8 percent to Rs 46.47 crore in Q1 2021 as compared to Rs 33.23 crore in Q1 2020. All the three major segments of the company had operating profits.

    GTPL reported consolidated revenue from operations at Rs 495.46 crore in Q1 2021 as compared to Rs 447.22 crore in Q1 2020. Consolidated total income for the period was Rs 502 crore as compared to Rs 456.05 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. CATV business revenue was Rs 412.53 crore in Q1 2021 as compared to Rs 345.91 crore in Q1 2020. CATV business reported operating result of Rs 50.17 crore for the period under review as compared to Rs 46.06 crore for Q1 2020. ARPU or Q1 2021 was up by Rs 7 to Rs 422 from Rs 415 in the previous year’s corresponding quarter.

    The company’s internet services business (Ex-EPC Project numbers) revenue grew 34 percent to Rs 52.65 crore in Q1 2021 from Rs 39.29 crore in Q1 2020. The segment reported an operating profit of Rs 5.34 crore in Q1 2021 as compared to an operating loss of Rs 0.18 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter. The company had been awarded Package B of the prestigious Bharat Net Phase-II project from the Gujarat Fibre Grid Network Ltd under Digital India Initiative (EPC Project) last year. GTPL reported revenue of Rs 30.28 crore an operating profit of Rs 2.01 crore from the EPC Project.

    GTPL reported revenue (Ex EPC Project) of Rs 471.7 crore, which was 20 percent more y-o-y. The company says in an earnings release that its CATV subscription revenue increased seven percent y-o-y to Rs 265.3 crore. EBITDA Ex EPC Project increased 14 percent y-o-y to Rs 126.1 crore.

    On the operational front, GTPL says that it has seeded 100,000 STBs but at the same time, it has lost 300,000 digital paying subscribers in Q1 2021. The company says that it had 72 lakh (7.2 million, 0.72 crore) digital paying subscribers as on 30 June 2020.

    Company Speak

    GTPL managing director Anirudhsinh Jadeja said, “GTPL Hathway delivered another strong quarter. The highlight of the quarter was strong profitability anddebt reduction. Our Q1 FY21 consolidated revenue, EBITDA and PAT grew by 10 percent, 11 percent and 39 percent respectively. During the quarter, we have reduced our gross debt by Rs 368 million (Rs 36.8 crore). During the current financial year, we plan to launch a Hybrid box, which will enable us to provide multiservice product that will have Broadband, OTT and Cable service at an attractive price point. Our CATV Business expansion in Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telengana is on track and it will gain momentum in the coming quarters.”

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by GTPL

    Consolidated total expenditure increased 9.5 percent during the quarter under review to Rs 444.48 crore from Rs 405.74 crore in Q1 2020. Pay channel cost in Q1 2021 increased 24.8 percent to Rs 226.98 crore from Rs 181.92 crore in the previous year. Other operational costs increased 48.9 percent to Rs 31.85 crore from Rs 21.39 crore.

    Employee benefits expense in Q1 2021 decreased 11.4 percent to Rs 31.28 crore from Rs 35.29 crore in the correspond period of the previous fiscal. Finance costs reduced 33.9 percent during the quarter under review to Rs 8.23 crore from Rs 12.45 crore. Other expenses in the period increased 26.2 percent to Rs 55.46 percent from Rs 43.93 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

  • 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. 

  • GTPL Hathway reports cable and internet subscribers, profit growth for FY 2019-20

    GTPL Hathway reports cable and internet subscribers, profit growth for FY 2019-20

    BENGALURU: Indian cable and internet services major GTPL Hathway Ltd (GTPL) reported profit after tax (PAT) for the year ended 31 March 2020 (FY 2020, year under review) at Rs 87.72 crore which was more than triple the PAT of Rs 25.08 crore for the previous fiscal (FY 2019). However, the company reported a loss of Rs 19.59 crore for the quarter ended 31 March 2020 (Q4 2020, quarter under review) as compared to a loss of Rs 23.50 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter (Q4 2019). The board of directors of the company have proposed a dividend of Rs 3 per share (30 percent) of face value of Rs 10 each for the year.

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    GTPL has reported adding 700,000 cable TV subscribers and 80,000 internet subscribers during the year under review. It closed FY 2020 and Q4 2020 with eight million (0.8 crore or 80 lakh) CATV active subscribers or 7.5 million (0.75 crore, 75 lakh) paying CATV subscribers and 405,000 internet subscribers.

    The company reported 88 per cent increase in consolidated total income at Rs 2,424.74 crore in FY 2020 as compared to Rs 1,289.15 crore for FY 2019. Consolidated operating income for the year under review increased 91.4 per cent to Rs 2,384.08 crore from Rs 1,245.82 crore in FY 2019. Consolidated total income for Q4 2020 at Rs 666.55 crore was almost double (up 91.1 per cent) as compared to Rs 348.75 crore in Q4 2019. Operating income in Q4 2020 was more than double (up 103.3 per cent) at Rs 655.65 crore as compared to Rs 322.43 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter.

    Segment Revenue

    GTPL Hathway has three segments: CATV, Internet and EPC;  through EPC it is executing a contract for BharatNet, for which it has reported annual revenue for the first time in FY 2020.

    CATV segment reported 42.2 per cent growth in operating revenue for FY 2020 at Rs 1,565.50 crore from Rs 1,101.26 crore in the previous year. The segment had an operating profit growth of 141 per cent at Rs 108.20 crore during the year under review as compared to Rs 44.90 crore in FY 2019. Operating revenue for CATV segment in Q4 2020 grew 49.2 per cent to Rs 427.44 crore from Rs 286.40 crore in Q4 2019. Operating loss for CATV segment increased to Rs 34.62 crore in Q4 2019 as compared to an operating loss of Rs 25.82 crore in Q4 2019.

    Internet services segment revenue in FY 2020 grew 15.9 per cent to Rs 167.60 crore from Rs 144.56 crore in FY 2019. The segment had an operating profit of Rs 4.96 crore in FY 2020 as compared to an operating loss of Rs 2.06 crore in FY 2019. ARPU for the segment in FY 2020 at Rs 422 was higher than the Rs 413 for FY 2019. For Q4 2020, Internet Services revenue grew 28.5 per cent to Rs 46.31 crore from Rs 36.03 crore. The segment had an operating profit of Rs 3.64 crore during the quarter under review as compared to an operating loss of Rs 5.31 crore in Q4 2019. ARPU for Internet Service segment for Q4 2020 at Rs 422 was higher than RS 415 in the immediate trailing quarter, Q3 2020, and the Rs 413 in Q4 2019.

    GTPL reported operating revenue of Rs 650.98 crore in FY 2020 for its EPC Project. The segment had an operating profit of Rs 44.69 crore. For Q4 2019, EPC Project operating revenue was Rs 181.91 crore as compared to Rs 237.66 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q3 2020.

    Company Speak

    GTPL managing director Anirudhsinh Jadeja said, “Amidst a year of industry reforms, GTPL Hathway has emerged as a stronger company. Our operating ability to expand our services have improved and so has our ability to generate free cashflow. The highlight of FY20 was strong profitability, debt reduction and geographical expansion. Our FY20 consolidated revenue and EBITDA grew by 88 per cent and 39 per cent, respectively. During the year, we have reduced our gross debt by Rs 1,293 million (Rs 129.30 crore). During the year, we have strengthened our CATV presence in Mumbai (Maharashtra) and have entered Chennai (Tamil Nadu). We have also expanded our subscribers base in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in FY20.”

    “FY20 was the first full year of implementation of the New Framework across the industry. Implementation of new regime prima facie resulted in change in LCOs’ earning profile adversely and restricted their cash flow cycle, consequently, lowering their ability to pay their dues to the company. Pursuant to the above change and assessment carried out by the management, we have recognised Rs 679.64 million (Rs 67.964 crore) towards impairment of trade receivables and have disclosed the same as ‘Exceptional Item’", added Jadeja.

    Let us look at the other numbers reported by GTPL for FY 2020

    Consolidated total expenditure increased 86.2 per cent during the year under review to Rs 2,198.93 crore from Rs 1,180.92 crore in FY 2019. Pay channel cost in FY 2020 reduced 38.5 per cent to Rs 513.77 crore from Rs 835.92 crore in the previous year. Other operational costs declined 5.8 per cent to Rs 88.34 crore from Rs 93.90 crore in the previous year.

    Employee benefits expense in FY2020 increased 16.2 per cent to Rs 126.1 crore from Rs 108.44 crore in the previous fiscal. Finance costs increased 14.2 per cent during the year under review to Rs 51.35 crore from Rs 44.95 crore. Other expenses in the period declined 26.2 per cent to Rs 178.42 crore from Rs 243.86 crore in FY 2019.

  • GTPL Hathway sees demand surge on both cable, broadband amid the lockdown

    GTPL Hathway sees demand surge on both cable, broadband amid the lockdown

    MUMBAI: As the country battles the COVID-19 crisis, a large chunk of the population is confined at home. To ease the burden of social distancing, most of the people are consuming more content, both on linear TV and online. The surge in consumption has caused higher demand for cable boxes as well as broadband connection of GTPL Hathway.

    “The demands are becoming higher actually as people are staying at home. We are recovering a number of old boxes in the cable side and there is demand for new boxes as well. However, we are seeing more surge in broadband connection and bandwidth consumption is also very high. The consumption has increased on the cable side as well,” GTPL Hathway business head – video and chief strategy officer Piyush Pankaj said.

    While there is a curfew-like lockdown, it is challenging for on-ground staff to run operations. But Pankaj mentioned that as MSOs and LCOs come under essential services, the proper documentation proving that they are, is helping them to work. He also said that they are updating police permission everywhere that the service comes under essential segments.The on-ground staff have also been given proper cards and letters to save them from any hassle. To ensure safety, they have also been given health guides, hand sanitizers, dresses covering their face and body.

    However, GTPL has also reduced the manpower working on ground, as the main requirement there is the technical staff. The workforce, which do not need to be on-ground, have been given work-from-home option. Hence, while 20 per cent of the team is working from the real location, rest of the workers perform their duties from home.

    “Till now the payment side is rolling smoothly, we are sending URLs to customers and asking them to pay and in some cases operators are also collecting on their paytm also. Sometimes operators are using the URL, using paytm to pay us; somewhere consumers are paying directly to us. Lockdown started one week ago; we have not faced any problem on the credit side till then. If any problem comes, we will update technology and adhere to that,” Pankaj added.

    GTPL has put some advertisements on COVID-19 on its own local channels. Moreover, whenever a customer calls, it is giving out messages to ensure consumer’s safety as well.

  • GTPL Hathway believes NTO 2.0 won’t affect price stability

    GTPL Hathway believes NTO 2.0 won’t affect price stability

    MUMBAI: At the very beginning of 2020, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) issued fresh amendments to the New Tariff Order (NTO) within less than one year of its implementation. Rattled by the sudden change, the stakeholders in the industry seem to be displeased. But in contrast, GTPL Hathway believes NTO 2.0 is an extension of NTO 1.0 and price stability in the market will continue despite the revision.

    “There is NCF for Rs 160 in the new NTO and there is NCF Rs 130 in the earlier NTO plus we could charge additional Rs 20 for every additional 25 channels, so broadly speaking, from a short-term perspective, they are more or less similar kind of thing. So, NCF has a big portion of earning. That is something which is more or less protected while one can debate on what kind of future impact it will have after three years, after five years, but from a short-term perspective that is protected,” GTPL Hathway chairman and non-executive director  Rajan Gupta said in an earnings call after q3 result.

    “In fact, we have the ability to charge Rs 30 more in case market forces allow us to charge and GTPL being high market share in many territories, they should have the ability to charge higher and we are happy about the consumer. I think consumers will have more choices,” he added.

    According to Gupta, DPOs with higher market share should be able to make many more relevant bouquets for consumers, for example, genre-level bouquet while currently bouquets are limited to five-six, which is more based on the ARPU slabs.  He said having very micro bouquets is also needed.  He stated that can happen with NTO 2.0 on the back of flexibility it offers for DPOs.

    Although he mentioned this is not a full assessment on NTO 2.0 but the MSO believes on the basis of the initial assessment that it should see a lot of stability in earnings and cash flow.

    “It is too early to speak about how the ARPU will happen in NTO 2.0. In NTO 1.0, if you see this quarter, our ARPU has stood at around Rs 118 and we are expecting that it will go up in q4. We have gone down by Re 1- Rs 1.5 because of the festive offer given by the broadcasters. We are expecting that in q4, it will go up as the festive offer is over. Right now, we have to wait to see what new bouquets, new channel prices come from the broadcasters in NTO 2.0 and only after the assessment, we can comment on NTO 2.0 ARPU,” GTPL Hathway  Cable TV business head and chief strategy officer Piyush Pankaj said.

    He also added that it is not certain right now if less money will be coming from customers because it depends on what type of bouquets and a-la-carte price the broadcasters will come through. But he said there is price stability in the market during the last one year and they believe price stability would continue.

  • VBS 2019: Media industry leaders to discuss challenges facing the industry

    VBS 2019: Media industry leaders to discuss challenges facing the industry

    MUMBAI: The much-anticipated Video and Broadband Summit (VBS) 2019 will be held today in Mumbai with participation from prominent media networks, broadcast distributors, media and advertising agencies, consultancy services, OTT platforms, media monitoring firms, as well as government regulatory bodies.

    Among the prominent media networks who will be participating in the summit are Sony Pictures Network, Star India, 9x Media, Enterr10 TV, BBC Global News, IN10 Media, Shemaroo and Zee. From the distributors side DEN Network, Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation, Fastway Transmissions, GTPL Hathway, Tata Sky, SITI Networks, UCN Cable and Ashwini Cable will be participating in the one-day summit at Hyatt Regency, Mumbai.

    Representatives of India’s prominent media agencies like IndiaCast Media, MediaKind, The Remediation Company, IndusInd Media and Communication, One Take Media, Madison Media will be participating in the event held in the shadows of TRAI’s February 2019 New Tariff Order (NTO) and amidst expectations and fears of further changes to the months-old act, described by many as one of the most significant reform in Indian media broadcast industry.

    There will be representation from auditing firms like PwC and KPMG as well. Since broadband service providers are now key to video distribution, there will be representation from Google, Reliance Jio Fiber, Reliance Jio and Win Broadband.

    TRAI advisor (broadcasting and cable services) Arvind Kumar will also address the gathering of industry leaders and there will also be a special presentation from BARC India COO Romil Ramgarhia.

    Bringing together industry leaders from all sectors of the media industry, the summit will discuss various issues at the heart of the NTO, how it’s impacting broadcasters and distributors, changes proposed to it and why broadcasters are unhappy with TRAI for floating a new consultation paper within six months of NTO.

    After a keynote address by Anil Wanvari, founder Indiantelevision.com, IndiaCast Media Distribution president Amit Arora, Star India Distribution president Gurjeev Singh Kapoor, IndusInd Media and Communications CEO Vynsley Fernandes, GTPL Hathway VP Yatin Gupta, The Remediation Company founder Shyamala Venkatachalam and Bhima Riddhi Digital Services promoter Nagesh Narayandas Chhabria will debate the TRAI consultation paper on tariffs in a panel discussion to be moderated by Elara Capital VP Karan Taurani.

    To give the perspective of distributors on how the NTO, and the expected amendments to it, affects their businesses, there will be a panel discussion in which SITI Networks CEO Anil Malhotra, GC member of SCTE India Shaji Mathews, Fastway Transmissions Consultant Peeush Mahajan and Bhima Riddhi Digital Services Promoter Nagesh Narayandas Chhabria will participate.

    Advertising industry is at the other end of the spectrum, the other big sector that had to adjust to post NTO environment. To discuss the advertisers' view and their take on the dynamic pay-TV landscape, there will be Godrej head media services Subha Sreenivasan Iyer, ITC PR and media head Jaikishin Chhaproo and Havas Media Group managing partner West & South Kunal Jamaur. They will participate in a panel discussion to be moderated by Castle Media CEO Ru Ediriwira.

    There will be a presentation from BROADPEAK business development manager Hervé Creff, on "Keeping control of HDMI1 with Android TV Operator Tier – the "super-aggregator" approach."

    This will be followed by a panel discussion on how to transform the TV broadcast sector to fuel growth – what are the key issues facing the industry and how can more transparency and discipline be injected into it? PwC partner and leader Raman Kalra, Elara Capital VP – research analyst (media) Karan Taurani, KPMG India partner Girish Menon and BBC News head of distribution – South Asia Sunil Joshi will participate in a panel discussion to be moderated by SBICAP Securities head of equity research Rajiv Sharma.

    Local cable operators also constitute an important link in the TV broadcast value chain in India. Despite the presence of strong DTH players like Tata and Bharti Airtel and the rise of OTT, as much as 65 per cent of TV homes in India are still connected through these local cable operators, as per TRAI estimates. Maharashtra Cable Operators Federation (MCOF) president Arvind Ramesh Prabhoo and IndusInd Media and Communication COO Rouse Koshy will participate in a panel discussion on how has the role of the LCO changed under the new regulatory framework and its significance going forward.

    The rise of some of the Free to Air (FTA) channels in the post NTO environment has been another prominent feature of 2019. To discuss the roadmap ahead for FTA channels, there will be a panel discussion in which SAB Group CEO Manav Dhanda, Enterr10 TV MD – Fakt Marathi Shirish Pattanshetty, IN10 Media COO Akul Tripathi, 9X Media chief revenue officer Pawan Jailkhani and Shemaroo Entertainment COO Kranti Gada will participate.

    To discuss the role of the internet in the broadcast industry, there will be a fireside chat between Anil Wanvari and Jio Fiber president Anuj Jain. The summit will end with a panel discussion on the role of the internet in video distribution in which Google Industry head media and entertainment Sandeep Ramesh, Jio VP – advertising and strategy Mohit Kapoor, COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews, ZEE5 chief revenue officer and business head Taranjeet Singh and MediaKind head of marketing – APAC Chiranjeev Singh will participate.

  • GTPL Hathway posts consolidated revenue of Rs 4,470 mn in Q2 2020

    GTPL Hathway posts consolidated revenue of Rs 4,470 mn in Q2 2020

    MUMBAI: Gujarat-based multi system operator (MSO) GTPL Hathway has posted consolidated revenue of Rs 4,470 million (ex EPC contract) for the quarter ended 30 September, which increased 41 per cent year-over-year. While the cable TV subscription revenue stood at Rs 2,608 million, broadband revenue stood at Rs 398 million.

    The company posted a consolidated net profit (ex EPC contract) of Rs 195 million for the quarter and the EBITDA increased 5 per cent to Rs 1,156 million . Subscription revenue reached Rs 2,608 million, up 47 per cent year-over-year.

    “GTPL continued to demonstrate superior business and financial performance in the second quarter of FY20. GTPL’s cutting edge technology allows us to expand our CATV business in other regions without any major CAPEX. Our robust cash flow will not only support our capital expenditure plan that is required but also will help us in reducing our debts,” GTPL Hathway MD Anirudhsinhji Jadeja commented on the performance.

    GTPL Hathway seeded 200,000 STBs during the second quarter FY20, taking total seeded STBs as on 30 September to 9.90 million. Digital paying subscribers as on 30 September 2019 stood at 7.25 million, increased by 150,000.

    During Q2 FY20, the company added 260,000 home pass taking it to total 2.92 million as of 30 September. The MSO added 15,000 net broadband subscribers during Q2 and 11,000 FTTX subscribers while the broadband average revenue per user (ARPU) for Q2 FY20 was maintained at Rs 415.

  • GTPL Hathway appoints Anil Bothra as CFO

    GTPL Hathway appoints Anil Bothra as CFO

    MUMBAI: GTPL Hathway Ltd has appointed Anil Bothra as its chief financial officer with effect from 14 October 2019.

    Bothra is a chartered accountant, company secretary and a cost accountant who brings with him rich experience in finance & commercial domain across different industries. Bothra has successfully managed diverse and challenging assignments across the career spanning 24 years and brings expertise in driving accounts, taxation, commercial, corporate finance, cost control, budgeting, internal control & audit, investors relations, merger and acquisitions, due diligence and corporate planning.

    Bothra has worked with Atul Ltd, Shell Hazira, Adani Enterprises, Aditya Birla Group (Grasim / Hindalco & Ultratech) and Lloyds Steels. Prior to joining GTPL, Bothra was associated with Grasim Industries Ltd.

     “I am delighted to welcome Anil Bothra as our CFO. Bothra carries deep knowledge in all areas across finance & commercial and his experience will be very valuable for the Company. He will be a great addition to the leadership team, and he will play a pivotal role in our growth journey,” GTPL Hathway managing director Anirudhsinh Jadeja said.

     “I am delighted to be a part of the amazing growth story of GTPL Hathway, one of India’s largest multi system operator. I look forward to being part of the GTPL Hathway’s journey to enhance stakeholders’ value,”  Bothra commented.

  • DPOs say broadcasters misusing TRAI tariff order with heavy discounts

    DPOs say broadcasters misusing TRAI tariff order with heavy discounts

    MUMBAI: Distribution platform operators (DPOs) believe that broadcasters have misused the flexibility available to them to give a discount on the sum of a-la-carte as high as 90 per cent. The operators have shared their views on Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's (TRAI) consultation paper (CP) on ‘Tariff related issues for Broadcasters and Cable services. The industry has also given mixed views over the implementation of the 15 per cent cap on discount for a-la-carte by broadcasters.

    TRAI had released the consultation paper seeking responses from stakeholders to review the new tariff regime on 16 August 2019. In its consultation paper, the authority informed that it has observed that broadcasters are offering bouquets at a discount of up to 70 per cent of the sum of a-la-carte rates of pay channels constituting those bouquets. “It indicates that in absence of any restriction on the discount on the offering of bouquets, broadcasters are making prices of a-la-carte channels illusory thereby impacting the a-la-carte choice of channels by consumers and giving huge discounts on bouquets to push even those channels which are not the choice of subscribers,” said TRAI.

    Tata Sky in its responses to TRAI expressed disappointment of not revisiting the entire new regime. It said, “We are glad that TRAI has finally acknowledged these misgivings, however, to our  disappointment, TRAI, instead  of conducting a  holistic exercise of revisiting the new regime in entirety has chosen to selectively focus only on  few issues thereby limiting the scope of the exercise.”

    “Having acknowledged the serious misgivings in the regulations, the current consultation is a piece-meal and isolated effort and not the appropriate way forward,” opined Tata Sky.

    It also suggested that TRAI should allow the price forbearance models at the wholesale and the retail level. Further, the channel pricing framework and methodologies should be left to the parties involved, allowing the market forces and negotiation between the parties to decide the same.

    Tata Sky also informed the authority that it is against implementation of any kind of cap overpricing. It suggested, “The DPO bouquet is much more subscriber-friendly as it caters to the needs of the subscriber for availing channels from multiple broadcasters within a pack rather than having to subscribe to multiple bouquets/ or channels.”

    However Bharati Telemedia, in its responses, said, “We are of the view that at this stage, no changes should be made to any of the provisions of the tariff order including the provision w.r.t discount on sum of a-la-carte channels forming part of bouquets offered either by the broadcaster or the DPOs. Any changes at this stage will be equivalent to migration and this may not be the ideal time to cause any interference as it will also lead to unnecessary disturbances and customer dissatisfaction.”

    DEN Networks said that some broadcasters are indulging in heavy discounting of bouquets by taking advantage of non-implementation of 15 per cent cap on discount which has created a non-level field vis-à-vis other broadcasters.

    DEN Networks also expressed that popular channels are being unnecessarily clubbed with non-popular channels to push their uptake. It said, “The broadcasters who have large number of channels in their repertoire, are engaging in a practice of forming large number of heavily discounted bouquets (with minor changes) to push popular channels with non-driver channels. It can be seen that the channels which were FTA before the implementation of the new regulatory framework have been converted into pay channels with the price range of Rs 0.10-0.50/- just to push them with in a bouquet with popular channels of the broadcaster.”

    The operator believes that the non-implementation of 15 per cent cap on discount clubbed with the ceiling of Rs 19/- on the price of MRP of a-la-carte channels forming part of such bouquets is responsible for pushing unwanted channels along with popular channels.

    All India Digital Cable Federation (AIDCF) in its responses to TRAI said, “The non-implementation of the said proviso has given leverage to the broadcasters to offer their bouquets at discount which is as high as 70 per cent of the sum of a-la-carte channels forming part of such bouquets. This flexibility of giving discounts without a cap, created a non-level playing field for the distributors because the bouquets were priced on a discriminatory basis.”

    Sharing similar views, AIDCF and GTPL Hathway said, “The flexibility available to broadcasters to give discount on sum of a-la-carte channels forming part of bouquets has been grossly misused by the broadcasters. The same has also been acknowledged by the authority. It is pertinent to mention that the broadcasters have not only offered huge discounts as high as 90 per cent on their bouquets but have also created confusion in the minds of consumers, by offering  numerous bouquet(s) comprising of few popular  and bulk of non-popular channel(s) with a clear intent to push their non-popular channels.”