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Tag: Jagdish Kumar Pillai

  • Jagdish Kumar Pillai quits Hathway; Rajan Gupta appointed as MD

    Jagdish Kumar Pillai quits Hathway; Rajan Gupta appointed as MD

    MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited has accepted the resignation of MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar Pillai.

    Pillai is moving on from the company w.e.f today, 25 November. He took over as the MD & CEO of Hathway in December 2012, and led the company’s growth through the digitisation phase establishing its position as one of the leading digital cable TV and broadband service providers in the country.

    Hathway announced Rajan Gupta to be its new managing director.

    Prior to the appointment, Gupta was serving as president of the Hathway Broadband business since 2014, leading the company’s aggressive foray into high-speed cable broadband services in the country. With a broadband subscriber base of close to 0.8 million and services reaching more than 3.7 million homes, Gupta is credited with establishing & building a profitable broadband business for Hathway, setting it way-ahead of other competing players. With most MSOs in the country expanding their business and entering the cable broadband space, Hathway has been a step ahead in offering cutting-edge broadband services under Rajan’s leadership with continued investments in high-speed technology such as Docsis 3.0 and GPON FTTH, providing 50 MBPS speed plans, constant upgradations in customer service and increasing market share.

    Over 18 years of experience, he has handled various business leadership roles with Tata Teleservice, Hindustan Coca Cola and Asian Paints.

    In his new role Gupta would be to build on Hathway’s leadership in broadband and video business and take Hathway to the next phase of strategic transformation of creating a profitable consumer centric organization by maximizing innovation, execution and collaboration.

    In another major move, T.S. Panesar, current president of Hathways’ video business, has been elevated to the position of chief executive officer-video business.

    Having joined the company in December 2014, Panesar is an industry veteran with two decades of leadership experience in the consumer durables and TV broadcasting industry having worked with leading brands like ESPN Star Sports, Star TV. Having multi-functional experience, Panesar waspart of the core management team that was instrumental in setting up the ESPN Star Sports brand in India and building its DTH business.He has been credited with bringing a transformational shift in the cable TV operations of the company, making it more transparent, systematic & process driven. Under Panesar’s leadership, Hathway has aggressively grown in DAS 3 markets having crossed 11 million digital subscribers and launched many breakthrough initiatives such as “Hathway Connect”, the state-of-the-art, innovative portal for LCOs that has been widely appreciated by the industry& LCO fraternity for increasing their revenue and reducing operational costs. In addition, he has also led the launch of new in-house channels, rebranding & repositioning the current stable to create a robust portfolio as well as leading the companys’ foray into Value Added Services (VAS) offering a premium customer experience.

    Says Jagdish: I have been contemplating this for sometime. Finally, Viren (Raheja) agreed to my decision. I am taking time off just chilling with my family for the next few months before making my next move. I have enjoyed my stint at Hathway.

  • Jagdish Kumar Pillai quits Hathway; Rajan Gupta appointed as MD

    Jagdish Kumar Pillai quits Hathway; Rajan Gupta appointed as MD

    MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited has accepted the resignation of MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar Pillai.

    Pillai is moving on from the company w.e.f today, 25 November. He took over as the MD & CEO of Hathway in December 2012, and led the company’s growth through the digitisation phase establishing its position as one of the leading digital cable TV and broadband service providers in the country.

    Hathway announced Rajan Gupta to be its new managing director.

    Prior to the appointment, Gupta was serving as president of the Hathway Broadband business since 2014, leading the company’s aggressive foray into high-speed cable broadband services in the country. With a broadband subscriber base of close to 0.8 million and services reaching more than 3.7 million homes, Gupta is credited with establishing & building a profitable broadband business for Hathway, setting it way-ahead of other competing players. With most MSOs in the country expanding their business and entering the cable broadband space, Hathway has been a step ahead in offering cutting-edge broadband services under Rajan’s leadership with continued investments in high-speed technology such as Docsis 3.0 and GPON FTTH, providing 50 MBPS speed plans, constant upgradations in customer service and increasing market share.

    Over 18 years of experience, he has handled various business leadership roles with Tata Teleservice, Hindustan Coca Cola and Asian Paints.

    In his new role Gupta would be to build on Hathway’s leadership in broadband and video business and take Hathway to the next phase of strategic transformation of creating a profitable consumer centric organization by maximizing innovation, execution and collaboration.

    In another major move, T.S. Panesar, current president of Hathways’ video business, has been elevated to the position of chief executive officer-video business.

    Having joined the company in December 2014, Panesar is an industry veteran with two decades of leadership experience in the consumer durables and TV broadcasting industry having worked with leading brands like ESPN Star Sports, Star TV. Having multi-functional experience, Panesar waspart of the core management team that was instrumental in setting up the ESPN Star Sports brand in India and building its DTH business.He has been credited with bringing a transformational shift in the cable TV operations of the company, making it more transparent, systematic & process driven. Under Panesar’s leadership, Hathway has aggressively grown in DAS 3 markets having crossed 11 million digital subscribers and launched many breakthrough initiatives such as “Hathway Connect”, the state-of-the-art, innovative portal for LCOs that has been widely appreciated by the industry& LCO fraternity for increasing their revenue and reducing operational costs. In addition, he has also led the launch of new in-house channels, rebranding & repositioning the current stable to create a robust portfolio as well as leading the companys’ foray into Value Added Services (VAS) offering a premium customer experience.

    Says Jagdish: I have been contemplating this for sometime. Finally, Viren (Raheja) agreed to my decision. I am taking time off just chilling with my family for the next few months before making my next move. I have enjoyed my stint at Hathway.

  • Q3-2015: Hathway reports 2 per cent y-o-y revenue growth

    Q3-2015: Hathway reports 2 per cent y-o-y revenue growth

    BENGALURU: Indian multi system operator (MSO) Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited (Hathway) reported 1.9 per cent y-o-y growth in Q3-2015 with Total Income from Operations (TIO) of Rs 239.14 crore as compared to the Rs 234.78 crore but was 9.2 per cent lower than the Rs 263.51 crore in Q2-2015.

     

    The company reported a higher loss of Rs 58.05 crore in Q3-2015 than the loss of Rs 36.86 crore in the corresponding year ago quarter and the loss of Rs 39.26 crore reported in Q2-2015.

     

    Note: 100,00,000 = 100 lakh = 10 million = 1 crore

     

    Hathway’s EBIDTA calculated based on the figures submitted by the company (without other income) fell to Rs 24.58 crore (10.3 per cent of TIO) in the current quarter as compared to the Rs 36.74 crore (15.7 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and also fell when compared to the Rs 40.03 crore (15.2 per cent of TIO) in the previous quarter.

     

    Hathway’s income from operations consists mainly of subscription income from cable TV and broadband business, carriage and placement business, advertisement income, activation income from STB and other operating income.

     

    In Q3-2015, the company’s cable business was 10.8 per cent lower at Rs 99 crore versus the Rs 111 crore in the previous quarter, placement income was down 8 per cent to Rs 75.8 crore from Rs 82.4 crore in Q2-2015, activation business at Rs 7.2 crore was less than a third of the Rs 22.2 crore in the immediate trailing, while broadband income, the only exception, was up 13 per cent at Rs 51.3 crore in the current quarter from Rs 45.4 crore in Q2-2015. The company says that placement revenues were affected due to content related issues in the current quarter that have since been resolved with the broadcasters.

     

    Let us look at the other figures reported by Hathway:

     

    Total Expenditure (TE) in Q3-2015 at Rs 274.39 crore (114.7 per cent of TIO) was 17.6 per cent more than the Rs 254.03 crore (108.2 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and was almost same as the Rs 274.27 crore (104.1 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015.

     

    A major fraction of TE is the pay channel cost for Hathway. The company’s pay channel cost in Q3-2015 at Rs 94.04 crore (39.3 per cent of TIO) was 12.3 per cent more than the Rs 83.72 crore (35.7 per cent of TIO) in Q3-2014 and was 2.9 per cent lower than the Rs 96.81 crore (36.7 per cent of TIO) in the immediate trailing quarter.

     

    The company reported 6.9 per cent higher depreciation and amortization expense (depreciation) in Q3-2015 at Rs 59.82 crore (25 per cent of TIO) versus the Rs 55.98 crore (23.9 per cent of TIO) and 17.8 per cent more than the Rs 50.78 crore (19.3 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015.

     

    Hathway’s finance cost in Q3-2015 at Rs 26.86 crore (11.2 per cent of TIO) was 19.5 per cent more than the Rs 22.48 crore (9.6 per cent of TIO) and 11.6 per cent lower than the Rs 30.39 crore (11.5 per cent of TIO) in Q2-2015.

     

    Employee Benefit Expense (EBE) in Q3-2015 was Rs Rs 13.96 crore, in Q3-2014 EBE was Rs 13.79 crore and in Q2-2015 it was Rs 16.03 crore.

     

    While Hathway’s cable universe subscription numbers and cable paying subscribers remained stagnant at 1.17 crore  and 64 lakh respectively in Q3-2015 as compared to Q2-2015, Hathway has seeded 70000 set top boxes in Q3-2015, taking its digital subscription base to 85 lakh. Further, the company’s broadband home passed and broadband subscribers increased by 5000 and 10000 to 2 lakh and 4.3 lakh respectively, in Q3-2015 as compared to the previous quarter. Hathway also informs that it has about 600,000 STB’s in stock and plans to seed them at a rapid rate.

     

    Earlier, Hathway had informed BSE that the Board of Directors of the Company at its meeting held on 13 November, 2014, inter alia, has considered and approved the subdivision of face value of Equity Shares into Equity Shares of smaller amount than is fixed in the Memorandum of Association; i.e. to subdivide 1(One) equity share of Rs 10/- each to 5 (Five) equity shares of Rs 2/- each, subject to approval of shareholders.

  • Hathway Cable gets board nod to hike FII limit to 74 per cent

    Hathway Cable gets board nod to hike FII limit to 74 per cent

    MUMBAI: It was in 2012, when the government had relaxed foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in direct to home (DTH), cable TV industry and teleports from 49 per cent to 74 per cent. In keeping with this, Hathway Cable & Datacom which early this week became the first multi system operator (MSO) to have crossed the $1 billion mark in terms of enterprise valuation, is now probably looking at attracting overseas capital into the company.

    The MSO has in an announcement to the BSE informed that its Board of Directors have approved and passed the resolution to increase the foreign investment limit from the current 49 per cent to 74 per cent, this subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India, Ministry of Finance and/or the Reserve Bank of India.

    “Subject to receipt of approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board of India, Ministry of Finance (FIPB) and / or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and all other applicable authorities, increasing the foreign investment limit only by Foreign Institutional Investors, Foreign Portfolio Investors, etc. under the Portfolio Investment Scheme in accordance with Schedules 2 and 2A of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2000 in the Company from 49 per cent to 74 per cent of the issued arid fully paid-up share capital of the Company,” reads the announcement.

    The Hathway Board has also passed the resolution of a postal ballot notice along with the explanatory statement and calendar of events for seeking approval of the shareholders of the Company by postal ballot for its foreign investment proposal.

    According to Hathway Cable & Datacom CEO and MD Jagdish Kumar Pillai, the cable TV sector is becoming lucrative for foreign investors. Pillai had earlier told Indiantelevision.com, “With broadband and cable TV getting more transparent, the market is viewing this as a great industry to invest in the next five years, and that’s reflected in the balance sheet. It is a promise of a good potential.”

    With the industry getting more organised courtesy its digitsation drive, Pillai expects more foreign investors to pump in funds into the cable TV sector.

     

  • Hathway Cable becomes India’s first $1bn enterprise valuation MSO

    Hathway Cable becomes India’s first $1bn enterprise valuation MSO

    MUMBAI: New year celebrations don’t seem to have ended at the Raheja group company and multi system operator Hathway Cable & Datacom. The MSO has become the first company from the cable TV industry to have crossed the $1 billion mark in terms of enterprise valuation.

    At the time of filing the report, as on 6 January 2015, (1 USD= 63.4286 INR mid- market rate), the total valuation of the company including market cap (Rs 5581 crore) and debt (Rs 806 crore) and excluding cash and cash equivalents  was close to $ 1 billion (Rs 6387 crore).  

    Hathway Cable & Datacom MD and CEO Jagdish Kumar Pillai is over the moon with this feat.  Says he, “This achievement has got more to do with the potential of the Indian cable TV market, and not just with what Hathway does.”

     For Pillai, digitisation has opened up the potential of unlocking the value that Indian cable TV industry holds. “With broadband and cable TV getting more transparent, the market is viewing this as a great industry to invest in the next five years, and that’s reflected in the balance sheet. It is a promise of a good potential,” he opines.

    With the industry getting more organised, Pillai expects more foreign investors to pump in funds into cable TV. “And that is what Hathway is doing. We are corporatising the whole industry and bringing the professionals to run our business. We have invested heavily in computer software and automation. It has become more like a telecom company. We expect a lot of investment interest in the industry now,” he adds.

    Pillai feels that it is Hathway’s broadband service which differentiates the company from the other players. “Our broadband service is strong and that has, along with our strong CATV, helped us reach at this level,” he says.  

    The plan for Hathway from here is clear: monetisation of the investments made in the phase I and II markets. “We have deployed 7 million set top boxes in the first two phases of DAS and we would like to monetise that. Also as we get closer to phase III and IV deadlines, we will look at opportunities which will enable us to expand further,” he informs.

    As for broadband, Hathway which has already upgraded its platform to DOCSIS 3.0, is looking at expanding to all the cities in which it has a presence.  “The investment will be two-fold, both in broadband and in cable TV,” concludes Pillai.

    Coming on the back of the announcement that the Videocon group has signed an agreement with US-based Silver Eagle Acquisition Corp to sell 33.5 per cent of its shares in its DTH venture Videocon d2h for $300 million, the Hathway landmark shows that confidence amongst investors for TV distribution initiatives seems to be reviving. And that’s good news for the entire TV ecosystem which has been struggling to digitise its TV viewer base.

     

  • Hathway Cable’s Jagdish Kumar Pillai resigns as director of JV Hathway Bhawani

    Hathway Cable’s Jagdish Kumar Pillai resigns as director of JV Hathway Bhawani

    MUMBAI: Mumbai-based multi-system operator (MSO) Hathway Bhawani Cabletel & Datacom has appointed Samson Jesudas as the company’s joint managing director.

     

    Also, Hathway Cable & Datacom CEO Jagdish Kumar Pillai has resigned as director of Hathway Bhawani. Hathway Cable & Datacom is a joint venture partner in Hathway Bhawani.

     

    “It is an operational decision. Bhawani is a small entity and with Jagdish being involved in a number of issues, this seemed the right decision,” says an official from Hathway Cable & Datacom.

     

    The changes will take place immediately. “The board has already approved it. Now we are inviting the stakeholders to approve the appointment of Jesudas as the joint managing director,” he adds.

     

    Jesudas has been appointed as the joint MD for a period of three years, till 2017. “Jesudas is an old hand and he seemed to be the right choice,” the Hathway official feels.

  • Bengaluru MSOs to start gross billing, packaging from April

    Bengaluru MSOs to start gross billing, packaging from April

    MUMBAI: The multi-system operators (MSOs) in Bengaluru are determined to do all that is needed to be in the good books of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). The latest is that 12 MSOs met today in Bengaluru to discuss the status of consumer application forms (CAFs), gross billing, local cable operators (LCO) agreements and packaging to ensure compliance with TRAI regulations on digitisation.

     

    “This was a coordination meeting where we discussed about gross billing and also packaging,” informs a highly placed MSO who was present at the meeting.

     

    The group of 12 MSO will soon come out with a joint advertisement that will be published in Bengaluru newspapers and will inform the consumers about gross billing and packaging.

     

    The same was done in Delhi when the MSO Alliance jointly came out with an advertisement in local newspapers on the issue of gross billing.

     

    “We are looking at forming a joint committee in order to ensure that the guidelines set by TRAI can be followed,” informs the source.

     

    The timeline to start gross billing was also discussed in the meeting. “Gross billing in Bengaluru will start not later than April 2014,” informs Hathway Cable & Datacom MD & CEO Jagdish Kumar Pillai. Another important issue raised was that of the LCO-MSO agreement. “There were discussions on the revenue share for LCOs, the package rates etc,” adds Pillai.

     

    A Bengaluru-based MSO on the condition of anonymity informs, “The MSOs discussed on getting into a truce so that none of the MSOs infringe on each other’s subscribers. No decision has been taken on this though. The MSOs have asked for a couple of days to come to a final decision.”

     

    Another point discussed was that each LCO has to pay Rs 90 per subscriber per month to the MSO for using its services. “Discussions on packaging took place, which should be in place by April,” adds the Bengaluru based MSO.

     

    Earlier this week, Hathway, which has around eight lakh subscribers in the city, had switched off set top boxes of close to two lakh subscribers as they had not filled CAFs. “We had switched off 2.5 lakh STBs. This was to ensure that we comply with the TRAI guidelines,” concludes Pillai.