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Tag: Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani

  • Siti relooks at broadband as cable subscription drove revenues in FY18

    Siti relooks at broadband as cable subscription drove revenues in FY18

    BENGALURU: In FY 2017 (fiscal or year ended 31 March 2017, previous year), the Essel Group’s Siti Networks Ltd (Siti) was all gung-ho about broadband. In its annual report for fiscal 2017, the company said that it had become the largest multi-system operator (MSO) and a leading wired broadband services provider. The tone of the company’s 2017 annual report showed that Siti was fired up by the doubling of broadband revenue in FY 2017 as compared to FY 2016 to Rs 97 crore (about 8 per cent of total revenue for fiscal 2017) from Rs 48.6 crore (about 4 per cent of total revenue for fiscal 2016). The company’s broadband operations added 7.2 lakh home passes during the year taking the total footprint to 16.1 lakh homes. Broadband customer base grew to 2.28 lakh by Q4 2017 exit, up 73 per cent year-on-year (y-o-y). Further, Siti said in its FY 2017 annual report that it planned to channelise more capital to its broadband division, which it then felt was a highly scalable opportunity.

    Cut to FY 2018 and the story has changed. Siti’s broadband operations with a total footprint of 16.8 lakh homes had a base of 2.5 lakh customers.  Siti added just about 22,000 broadband subscribers in fiscal 2018, and y-o-y broadband revenues grew by only 4 per cent to Rs 101 crore in FY 2018.The company said that it was working on building a growth strategy in the sector.

    Quoting from its fiscal 2018 Annual report:

    “We are also looking closely at better and centralised inventory controls, besides identifying unsustainable locations running on IP bandwidth with the objective of phasing them out. We also aim to focus more aggressively on high definition (HD) penetration, broadband expansion, and improving monetisation in digital addressable system (DAS) phase III and IV areas.”

    At another place in the 2018 annual report Siti states:

    “In broadband, your company is looking to deepen its penetration levels in its existing markets to better utilise existing capital expenditure incurred. Going forward, we are also looking to arrive at an ideal business model that will allow us to grow profitably and sustainably in this segment, especially considering the disruptive pricing environment prevalent in mobile internet currently and the entry on new entities in wired broadband.”

    It must be noted that broadband contributed to just about 8 percent and 7 percent to Siti’s revenues in FY 2017 and FY 2018 respectively. Cable business is and has been the major revenue earner for Siti.

    While its broadband business has not met with Siti’s expectations, its cable business and more so subscription revenue has been the revenue growth driver. Cable subscription (Video) revenue in FY 2017 grew 39 per cent to Rs 569 crore as compared to Rs 410.2 crore in FY 2016. Siti’s cable subscription revenue grew 41 per cent in fiscal 2018 to Rs 799.7 crore as compared to the previous year. Carriage revenue, which had grown by 17 per cent in FY 2017 to Rs 300.1 crore from Rs 256.8 crore was almost stagnant in terms of growth in FY 2018. It grew by about 1.3 per cent to about Rs 303.8 crore in fiscal 2018. Siti’s activation revenue has also been almost constant and will taper off once its entire subscriber base has been digitised, since this is generally a one-time revenue. Activation revenue in FY-2016 was Rs 170.6 crore, it was Rs 170.1 crore in FY 2017 and was Rs 175 crore in FY 2018. Advertisement revenue had declined in FY 2017 to Rs 13.5 crore from Rs 32 crore in FY 2016 has increased in FY 2018 to Rs 18.5 crore.

    Siti has yet to report profit after tax and reward its shareholders with dividends. But, the good thing is that Siti’s operating profits (EBITDA) without activation revenue have grown 2.6 times in FY 2018 to Rs 150.7 crore from Rs 58.6 crore. Overall EBITDA including activation has grown 41.9 per cent in FY 2018 to Rs 324.5 crore from Rs 241.2 crore in the previous year.

    All numbers in this report are consolidated unless stated otherwise.

    Siti’s position with regards to broadband is more of a norm rather than an exception. Many other MSOs’ and LCOs’ that have also been providing broadband internet services have had muted numbers from this business stream in FY 2018 as compared to the previous year. This implies either a slow growth or even de-growth of subscriber numbers, reduced ARPUs’ or even both.

    Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio) has been the biggest disrupter that has got both wireless and wireline internet service providers struggling to match up. With its plans to start FTTH wired internet services, with strategies that many in the industry term as ‘predatory’, it is likely to make the ground difficult to sustain and grow for incumbents.

  • Jio numbers up on larger subscriber base and higher usage of services

    Jio numbers up on larger subscriber base and higher usage of services

    BENGALURU: When Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s biggest startup in the world Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio) started operations it had startled the Indian telecom industry ecosystem in the country. Jio had reported a net profit of Rs 723 crore against operating revenue of Rs 20,154 crore and value of services of Rs 23,714 crore for fiscal 2018 (year ended 31 March 2018, FY 2018).

    For the first quarter ended 30 June 2018 (Q1 2018, quarter or period under review), the company’s operating revenue increased 14.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to Rs 9,653 crore from Rs 8,421 crore in the immediate trailing quarter Q4 2018. Net standalone profit for the quarter under review was Rs 612 crore.

    Jio’s EBIT increased 14.7 per cent q-o-q n Q1 2019 to Rs 1,715 crore as compared to Rs 1,495 crore in Q4 2018. EBITDA increased 16.8 per cent q-o-q during the period under review to Rs 3,147 crore.

    Jio says in its earnings media release that customer activity grew substantially in the quarter under review with average data consumption per user per month of 10.6 GB and average voice consumption of 744 minutes per user per month.  Also, video consumption drove most of the usage, increasing to 340 crore hours per month on the network; average video consumption of 15.4 hours per subscriber per month. For Q4 2018, the company had reported average data consumption per user per month of 9.7 GB and average voice consumption of 716 minutes per user per month. Also video consumption was at over 240 crore hours per month in the immediate trailing quarter.

    Jio added 28.7 subscribers Q1 2019 and hence its subscriber base increased to 215.3 million in Q1 2019 from 186.6 million in Q4 2018. Average revenue per user (ARPU) declined slightly q-o-q to Rs 135.50 per month in Q1 2019 from Rs 137.1 per month in Q4 2018. The company reported subscriber churn of 0.3 per cent per month in Q1 2019 as compared to a slightly lower 0.25 per cent per month in Q4 2018.

    Reliance Industries numbers for Q1 2019

    Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is the parent company of Jio. RIL consolidated revenue increased by 56.5 per cent to Rs 141,699 crore ($ 20.7 billion) in Q1 2019. Consolidated PBDIT increased by 52.8 per cent to Rs 22,449 crore ($ 3.3 billion). Consolidated Profit Before Tax increased by 30.3 per cent to Rs 13,726 crore ($ 2.0 billion).Consolidated Cash Profit increased by 41.2 per cent to Rs 15,892 crore ($ 2.3 billion). Consolidated Net Profit increased by 17.9 per cent to Rs 9,459 crore ($ 1.4 billion).

    Company speak

    Commenting on the results, Reliance Industries Ltd, the parent company of Jio, chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said: “We continue to focus on strong delivery through operational excellence in our portfolio of businesses. Financial results of Q1 2019 underscore the strength of the petrochemicals we have reinforced over the last investment cycle. Our petrochemicals business generated record EBITDA with strong volumes and an upswing in polyester chain margins. Refining business performance remained steady despite the seasonal weakness in cracks. Continuing strength in global demand for oil products and implementation of more stringent environmental norms for marine fuels augurs well for our refining business. Our consumer businesses continue to scale new highs and now account for nearly 21 per cent of consolidated segment EBITDA. Retail business revenues have more than doubled and EBITDA has trebled on a y-o-y basis. Jio added a record number of subscribers, highlighting the compelling technology and value proposition that Jio offers vis-à-vis other networks. The scalability of our consumer business platforms is driving unprecedented value generation for our customers, our country and our shareholders.”

  • Jio reports maiden annual profit

    Jio reports maiden annual profit

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s biggest start-up in the world Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, or simply Jio, had started returning profits a couple of quarters ago. For the year ended 31 March 2018 (FY 2017-18, the year under review), this Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) subsidiary reported profit of Rs 723 crore against operating revenue of Rs 20,154 crore and value of services of Rs 23,714 crore.

    Jio statement said that it has continued its strong subscriber growth trend with net addition during the quarter ended 31 March 2018 (Q4 2017-18) of 26.5 million (as against 21.5 million in the previous quarter) and a churn of 0.25 percent per month. Jio’s subscriber base as on 31 March 2018 was 186.6 million (18.66 crore). Average revenue per user (ARPU) during the quarter was Rs 137.1 per subscriber per month. A Jio earnings release said that Jio subscribers continue to demonstrate high activity levels with average data consumption per user per month of 9.7 GB and average voice consumption of 716 minutes per user per month. Also, video consumption is at over 240 crore hours per month on the network while Jio apps continue to be highly popular.

    Commenting on the results, RIL chairman and managing director Ambani said, “A full-blown social, mobile and digital revolution is underway across the world, and I am glad that India is not being left behind in any way with the advent of Jio. Everyone at Jio is today proud to have played a pivotal role in transforming the digital landscape of this country and empowering millions of Indians with all the leading digital tools and skills. Jio is offering the ‘power of data’ to each Indian to fulfil every dream and to collectively take India to global digital leadership. The strong financial results of Jio in a competitive market environment demonstrates the robustness of the Jio business model and ability to offer the most value to our customers and partners. Jio has demonstrated that it can scale and sustain its strong financial performance.”

    RIL numbers

    For FY 2017-18, RIL achieved consolidated revenue of Rs 430,731 crore, an increase of 30.5 percent, as compared with Rs 330,180 crore in the previous year. The company’s profit after tax was higher by 20.6 percent at Rs 36,075 crore as against Rs 29,901 crore in the previous year.

    Also Read :

    Jio Music, Saavn to merge; RIL to invest $100 mn in combined entity

    Star India beats Sony, Jio to win media rights for BCCI’s home matches

    Reliance launches JioTV for web

     

     

     

  • Hathway leads the way in wireline net subs addition in Q3

    Hathway leads the way in wireline net subs addition in Q3

    BENGALURU: Over the past few years, multi-system operators, or MSOs, and cable television operators have been trying to enhance revenue by offering broadband internet services riding piggyback on their cable TV network wires. The second largest—considering that Atria Convergence Technologies is also an MSO and has far more broadband subscribers— cable television-wired broadband internet services provider, Hathway Cable & Datacom Services Ltd (Hathway) added more subscribers than any other wired internet service provider between October 2017 and December 2017. Going by data provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Hathway added 60,000 subscribers in the third quarter of fiscal 2018 (FY 2018) or the last quarter of calendar year 2017 (CY-2107). The TRAI report indicated that Hathway added 40,000 subscribers in Dec-17, the highest by any of top five wireline broadband internet services providers in the country. Since Sep-17 Hathway is the fifth largest wired broadband internet services provider in India.

    In its investor presentation, the now pure broadband internet services provider, Hathway, says that it added net 50,000 wireline broadband internet subscribers in Q3 2018. In the same investor presentation, Hathway claims that it has added 1.5 lakh broadband internet subscribers in CY-17–its subscriber base grew from 6 lakh at the end of December 2016 to 7.5 lakh as on 31 December 2018. TRAI data pegs Hathway’s subscriber base at 7.3 lakh as on the same date.

    It may be noted that both ACT and Hathway started off as MSOs, but now their core business focus is on wireline broadband internet services. In the case of Hathway, after restructuring, it is now a pure wired broad internet services provider, with its cable TV operations now under Hathway Digital Pvt Ltd. While ACT has continued to service its existing cable TV subscribers in the limited territory that it operates – South India mostly – its wireline broadband internet subscriber base has grown quite remarkably notwithstanding its geographical limitations. ACT added 1.6 lakh wireline broadband internet subscribers in CY-17 and 40,000 in Q3 2018. In Dec-17, ACT added 10,000 wireline broadband internet subscribers. ACT is the third largest wired broadband internet service providers in terms of number of subscribers in India with a subscriber base of 12.8 lakh. ACT is probably the largest private wireline broadband internet services provider in South India.

    TRAI provides data in units of million up to 2 fractions and hence the subscription numbers mentioned in this report are accurate to the nearest 10,000.

    The largest wireline broadband internet services provider in the country – the public sector Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) lost 5.7 lakh wireline broadband internet subscribers in CY-17 and 1.6 lakh in Q3-2018. In Dec-17, the public sector internet and telephony services provider bled 50,000 subscribers. It closed CY-17 or Dec-17 with a wired broadband internet subscriber base of 93.8 lakh.

    Indian telephone major Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel) is the second largest wired broadband internet services provider in India – it closed Dec-17 with 21.5 lakh subscribers. Airtel added 1.1 lakh wired broadband internet subscribers in CY-17, 30,000 in Q3-2018 and 10,000 in Dec-17.

    The public sector Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL) was once the third largest wired broadband internet services providers in the country, until it was replaced by ACT. MTNL lost 1.3 lakh wired broadband internet subscribers in CY-17, lost 40,000 subscribers in Q3 2018 and lost 10,000 subscribers in Dec-17. The company closed CY-17 with a wired broadband internet subscriber base of 9.1 lakh.

    Overall, the wireline broadband subscriber base in India declined by 2.8 lakh in CY-17, by 1.8 lakh in Q3 2018, but increased by 10,000 in Dec-17. The share of subscribers of the top five wired broadband internet service providers fell from 81.31 per cent as at the end of Dec-16 to 80.91 per cent at the end of Dec-17.

    The combined total number of subscribers of the top five broadband internet services in the country reduced by 3 lakh in CY-2017, reduced by 70,000 in Q3-2018 and remained the same in Dec-17 as in Nov-17 (144.5 lakh). It is quite obvious that the largest subscriber losses were by the public sector BSNL and MTNL. However, some MSOs such as Siti Networks Limited and regional player Ortel Communications had reported wireline broadband internet subscriber declines during CY-2017.

    Top 5 wireless broadband internet service providers

    As on 31 December 2017, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (16.009 crore) followed by Bharti Airtel (6.894 crore), Vodafone (5.243 crore), Idea Cellular (3.480 crore) and BSNL (1.257 crore).

    Overall broadband internet subscription

    A majority of the 36.287 crore internet subscribers in India subscribe to wireless internet services through mobile phones and dongles – the number grew from 33.24 crore in Nov-17 to 34.457 crore in Dec-17. Fixed wireless subscribers –  (Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to-Point Radio & VSAT) declined to 4.4 lakh in Dec-17 from 4.5 lakh in Nov-17. As mentioned above, wired broadband internet subscribers grew by 10,000 from 178.5 lakh in Nov-17 to 178.6 lakh in Dec-17.

    The top five service providers constituted 93.80 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Dec-17. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocom Ltd (16.009 crore), Bharti Airtel (7.109 crore), Vodafone (5.244 crore), Idea Cellular (3.481 crore) and BSNL (2.195 crore).

    Other broadband internet service providers

    As also mentioned above, MSOs and LCOs or cable video service providers also provide wired broadband internet services in the country. These cable service providers have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence, broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger than the numbers of some of the wired internet services providers mentioned above.

    Also Read :

    Nov 2017: Wireline internet bleeds subscribers

    Jio continues leading broadband subs addition while wireline internet loses subs in Oct

    RIL’s Rs 2.35 lakh crore investments in Jio start to payoff

  • RIL’s Rs 2.35 lakh crore investments in Jio start to payoff

    RIL’s Rs 2.35 lakh crore investments in Jio start to payoff

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani-run Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has invested a massive amount of money into the largest start-up in the world–Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (Jio). The RIL financials for the quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3 2018, quarter under review) showed that its digital services segment (Jio) had assets of Rs 234,986 crore, the largest asset block among any of the six segments (petrochemicals, refining, oil and gas, organised retail, digital services, and others) that the behemoth reports numbers for. And RIL reported net profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 504 crore for Q3 2018 as against net loss of Rs 271 crore during 2Q 2018, the immediate trailing quarter.

    The digital services segment’s operating revenue for Q3 2108 was Rs 6,879 crore, up 11.9 percent from the Rs 6,147 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. The value of services increased by 12.7 percent q-o-q to Rs 8,114 crore from Rs 7,197 crore, EBITDA almost doubled (increased by 82.1 percent) in the quarter under review to Rs 2,628 crore from Rs 1,443 crore in Q2 2018. EBIT almost quintupled (453.1 percent) to Rs 1,436 crore from Rs 260 crore.

    Jio added 2.15 million net subscribers in Q3 2018 with an ARPU of Rs 154 per customer. The RIL earnings release for its digital services says that average data traffic per customer for the quarter was 9.6 GB per month and total wireless data traffic has crossed 431 crore GB. Video consumption on the Jio network has crossed 200 crore hours per month, averaging 13.4 hours per subscriber per month.

    Commenting on the results, RIL chairman and managing director Ambani said, “I would like to thank all our customers for partnering with us in this revolution which has made India a global digital powerhouse. I congratulate all our employees and partners for the strong performance. Our commitment is to keep pushing newer innovative products which would radically transform customer lives and generate huge societal value.”

    “Jio’s strong financial result reflects the fundamental strength of the business, significant efficiencies and right strategic initiatives. Jio has demonstrated that it can sustain its strong financial performance,” he concluded.

    Organised retail business

    Revenues for Q3 2018 grew by 116.4 percent y-o-y to Rs 18,798 crore from Rs 8,688 crore. PBDIT for Q3 2018 increased by 82.0 percent y-o-y to Rs 606 crore from Rs 333 crore. Reliance Retail witnessed stellar performance across all consumption baskets during the period. During the quarter, Reliance Retail added 72 stores across various store concepts and increased the area operated to 14.5 million square feet from 13.2 million square feet in Q3 2017.

    RIL numbers

    RIL’s consolidated revenue increased by 30.5 percent to Rs 109,905 crore in Q3 2018 from Rs 84,194 crore in Q3 2017. Net profit increased by 25.1 percent to Rs 9,423 crore in the quarter under review as compared with Rs 7,533 crore in Q3 2017.

    Also Read :

    After telecom, Jio to bite into broadband and TV

    Comment: Reliance Industries’ telecom-media play fascinating, but complex & challenging too

    RIL to plan IPO for Reliance Jio: Bloomberg

  • TV18 profits decline in third quarter

    TV18 profits decline in third quarter

    BENGALURU: TV18 Broadcast Ltd (TV18), the subsidiary of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani-controlled Network18 Media and Investments Ltd (Network 18), reported consolidated total income of Rs 10 crore for the quarter ended 31 December 2017 (Q3-18) as compared with income of Rs 23.6 crore for the corresponding year ago quarter. For the immediate trailing quarter Q2-18 (quarter-on-quarter), income stood at Rs 11.83 crore.

    Consolidated profit after tax for the quarter under review was 8.1 percent lower year-on-year at Rs 15.87 crore as compared with Rs 17.27 crore but more than double (2.16 times) the Rs 7.3 crore in the immediate trailing quarter. The company’s consolidated simple EBIDTA (excluding GST and other income) was 2.1 percent lower y-o-y at Rs 38.65 crore (13.9 percent margin) as compared with Rs 39.49 crore (15.5 percent margin) and more than five times the Rs 7.6 crore in Q2-18.

    Consolidated total income in Q3-18 increased by 8.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 277 crore from Rs 254 crore and was 18 percent higher y-o-y than Rs 235 crore in Q2-18.

    Consolidated total expenditure rose by 9.4 percent y-o-y in Q3-18 to Rs 261 crore from Rs 269 crore and was 5.4 percent higher q-o-q as against Rs 247 crore.

    The company has two segments–media operations and film production and distribution (films). The lion’s share of the revenue was from the company’s media operations.

    Both segments reported operating profits for Q3-18 – of Rs 47 crore (media operations) and Rs 88 Lakh (film production and distribution). Media operations had operating profit of Rs 42 crore while film production and distribution incurred operating loss of Rs 5.3 crore in Q3-17. In the immediate trailing quarter, both segments had reported operating profit of Rs 47 crore and Rs 5.7 crore, respectively.

    The company’s marketing, distribution and promotional expense during the quarter under review rose by 14.8 percent y-o-y to Rs 44 crore from Rs 38 crore but was 3.8 percent lower q-o-q. The employee benefit expense in Q3-18 swelled by 12.9 percent y-o-y to Rs 93 crore from Rs 82 crore but declined by 5.4 percent q-o-q from Rs 98 crore.

    Other expenses during the quarter under review increased by 7.6 percent y-o-y to Rs 101 crore in Q3-18 from Rs 94.4 crore and was 22.2 percent q-o-q more than Rs 83 crore.

  • Jio continues leading broadband subs addition while wireline internet loses subs in Oct

    Jio continues leading broadband subs addition while wireline internet loses subs in Oct

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani’s Reliance Infocomm Limited (Jio) closed the month with 145.96 million wireless broadband subscribers having added 7.34 million subscribers during October 2017. Since 1 January 2017, the new telecom behemoth has added 129.91 million subscribers between 1 January 2017 and 31 October 2017 according to data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). In terms of growth, however, Jio had to accede to third place–it grew by 5.30 percent as compared to 7.69 percent growth by the Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel Limited and 5.31 percent growth by Vodafone in October 2017.

    India’s wireline broadband internet subscriber base has been declining over the past few months. Overall, the number of wired broadband internet subscriber base declined by 0.33 percent month-on-month in October 2017 to 17.98 million from 18.04 million. Among the top-five wired broadband service providers, the three private players gained subscribers while the public sector service providers lost them.

    Overall broadband internet service providers

    The top-five service providers (across wired, mobile wireless and fixed wireless, such as Wi-fi, Wi-Max, point-to-point, radio, and V-Sat) constituted 92.17 percent share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of October 2017. These service providers were Jio (145.96 million), Bharti Airtel (66.92 million), Vodafone (48.42 million), Idea Cellular (31.03 million), and BSNL (21.21 million).

    Top-five wireless broadband internet service providers

    In October 2017, the wireless broadband internet subscriber base in India grew by 15.34 million. Jio numbers have been mentioned above. Airtel reported the second largest addition of wireless subscribers in the month with 4.63 million additions to reach a subscriber base of 64.8 million. Vodafone added 2.44 million subscribers in the month under review and reached a subscriber base of 48.41 million followed by Idea Cellular which added 1.42 million subscribers with a subscriber base of 31.03 million as on 31 October. Anil Dhirubhai Ambani-led Reliance Communications Limited (RCom) had a stable wireless broadband subscriber base in October 2017 of 8.98 million.

    According to Trai data, as on 31 October 2017, the top-five wireless broadband service providers were Jio (145.96 million), Bharti Airtel (64.80 million), Vodafone (48.41 million), Idea Cellular (31.03 million), and Reliance Communications (8.98 million).

    Top-five wireline broadband internet service providers

    As on 31 October 2017, the top-five wired broadband service providers were BSNL (9.48 million), Airtel (2.13 million), Atria Convergence Technologies or ACT(1.26 million), MTNL (0.94 million), and Hathway Cable & Datacom (0.68 million). As mentioned above, Airtel, ACT and Hathway gained 0.01 million, 0.02 million and 0.01 million subscribers, respectively, in October 2017 while BSNL and MTNL lost 0.06 million and 0.1 million subscribers, respectively.

    Other broadband internet service providers

    MSOs and (LCOs) or cable video service providers also offer wired broadband internet services in the country. These cable service providers have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger than the numbers of some of the wired internet services providers mentioned above. However, it must be noted that some of these MSOs and LCOs could have lost subscribers in October 2017 considering that the top-five wired broadband internet services providers have lost only 0.03 million of the 0.06 million wireline internet subscribers in during the month.

  • Broadband: Jio leads wireless; Hathway enters top-five list

    Broadband: Jio leads wireless; Hathway enters top-five list

    BENGALURU: Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio) continued expanding its subscriber base one year after launch as per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) data for September 2017 (Sep-17, as on 30 September 2017, month under review). The wireless broadband internet subscriber base in India grew by 8.41 million to which Jio added 70 percent or 5.94 million subscribers during the month.

    The heavily indebted Anil Ambani-led Reliance Communications Limited (RCom), which will shut voice call services from 1 December 2017, continued to lose wireless broadband internet subscribers in Sep-17. RCom lost 1.89 million subscribers during the period under review.

    In the meantime, the wireline broadband internet subscriber base in the country continued the decline that commenced in July-17. Wireline broadband internet subscriber base in India fell by 0.106 million in September 2017 to 18.04 million from 18.11 million at the end of August 2017.

    Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited (Hathway) entered the list of top five wireline broadband internet service providers in the country at fifth place with an internet subscriber base of 0.67 million. It displaced You Broadband which had a subscriber base of 0.66 million as on 31 August 2017.

    Among the top five wireline broadband services providers in the country from the August 2017 list, only Bharati Airtel (Airtel) which is ranked second added 0.01 million subscribers to reach wireline internet subscriber bases of 2.12 million. The third largest wireline internet player in India and probably the largest private sector player in South India- Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT) reported no change in its August 2017 internet subscriber base of 1.24 million.

    The fall in wireline internet subscribers was once again led by the public sector government telecom companies – Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telecom Nigam Limited (MTNL). The former lost 0.06 million subscribers, while the latter lost 0.01 million in September 2017. The largest wireline internet player in terms of subscribers, BSNL, closed September 2017 with a wireline internet subscriber base of 9.54 million, while its smaller public sector peer closed the month with a subscriber base of 0.95 million. MTNL is the fourth largest wireline internet services provider in the country in terms of subscriber base.

    Overall broadband internet service providers

    The top five broadband service providers (wireless and wireline) constituted 91.64 percent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of Sep-17. These service providers were Jio (138.62 million), Airtel (62.29 million), Vodafone (45.98 million), Idea Cellular (29.61 million) and BSNL (21.24 million).

    Top five wireless broadband internet service providers

    As on 30 September 2017, the top five wireless broadband service providers were Jio (138.62 million), Airtel (60.17 million), Vodafone (45.97 million), Idea Cellular (29.61 million) and Reliance Communications (8.98 million).

    After Jio, Vodafone added the second largest number of wireless subscribers – 2.42 million or 28.5 percent of the total subscribers added in September 2017. Airtel added 21.4 million or the third largest number of wireless subscribers (25.2 percent while Idea cellular added 0.15 million wireless internet subscribers.

    Other broadband internet service providers

    Multi-system operators (MSOs) and local cable operators (LCOs) or cable video service providers also provide wired broadband internet services in the country. These cable service providers have a number of subsidiaries and alliances, hence broadband numbers are split as applicable. The consolidated subscription numbers of these entities could be larger than the numbers of some of the wired internet services providers mentioned above. However, it must be noted that some of these MSOs and LCOs could have lost subscribers in September 2017, considering the fact that the top five wired broadband internet services providers have lost only 0.05 million of the 0.106 million wireline internet subscribers in September 2017.

  • Aug-17:Jio leads broadband subscriber growth, BSNL leads wireline subscriber decline

    Aug-17:Jio leads broadband subscriber growth, BSNL leads wireline subscriber decline

    BENGALURU: India’s broadband subscriber base grew 1.81 percent in the month of August 2017 (Aug-17) by 5.61 million to 316.48 million from 310.87 million at the end of July 2017 (Jul-17). The growth was led by the Mukesh Ambani-led unstoppable juggernaut Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (Jio), which added 4.1 million new subscribers in August 2017 to take its subscriber base to a staggering 132.68 million. At the same time, the government’s Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) reported a loss of 60,000 wireline internet subscribers – to take its wireline subscriber base to 9.60 million from 9.66 million in the previous month. Overall, wireless subscriber numbers grew, while wireline and fixed wireless subscriber numbers continued to decline in Aug-17 as compared to the numbers reported for Jul-17.

    As per data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the top  five  service  broadband internet service providers  (across all platforms – wireless, wireline, fixed wireless (Wi-Fi, Wi-Max, Point-to- Point Radio & VSAT) constituted 90.85 percent market  share  of  the  total  broadband  subscribers  at  the  end  of  Aug-17. These  service  providers  were  Jio (132.68  million),  Bharti  Airtel  (60.14  million), Vodafone (43.56 million), Idea Cellular (29.46 million) and BSNL  (21.69 million).

    Wireless Broadband Internet Subscribers

    As mentioned above, Jio still continued to lead growth in wireless broadband internet subscribers in the country eleven months after its commercial launch on 5 September 2016. Jio has added 60.52 million subscribers in calendar year 2017 (CY-17) until Aug-17.

    The top five wireless broadband service providers were Jio (132.68 million), Bharti Airtel (58.03 million), Vodafone (43.55 million), Idea Cellular (29.46 million) and Reliance Communications (10.87 million).

    Wired Broadband Internet Subscribers

    The top five wired broadband srvice providers were BSNL (9.60 million), Bharti Airtel (2.11 million), Atria Convergence Technologies or ACT (1.24 million), MTNL (0.96 million) and You Broadband (0.66 million).

    ACT Broadband, probably the largest private wired internet service player in South India, continued to lead subscriber acquisitions in calendar year 2017 (CY-17, since 31 December 2016 or Dec-16) to Aug-17 with the addition of about 0.12 million broadband internet subscribers. Airtel has added around 70,000 wireline broadband internet service providers in CY-17 until Aug-17.

    As per TRAI data, the broadband wireline subscriber base in India declined in Aug-17 to 18.10 million from 18.40 million in Jul-17. Among the top five wireline broadband internet services providers in the country, BSNL and MTNL lost 60,000 and 10,000 subscribers respectively in the month of Aug-17. Airtel, the second largest wireline broadband internet player and ACT, reported a gain of 10,000 subscribers each and You Broadband reported a steady subscriber base of 0.66 million. This implies that the other wireline broadband internet service providers in the country besides those mentioned above gained 0.2 million subscribers in the month of Aug-17. Amongst the other wireline broadband internet service providers are multi-system operators and local cable operators that provide internet services through their video cables using technology that includes various versions of DOCSIS technology.

  • TV18 reports profit for second quarter

    TV18 reports profit for second quarter

    BENGALURU: TV18 Broadcast Limited (TV18), the subsidiary of the Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani controlled Network18 Media and Investments Ltd (Network 18) reported a consolidated total comprehensive income of Rs 118.3 million for the quarter ended 30 September 2017 (Q2-18, current quarter) as compared to the negative comprehensible income of Rs 74.5 million for the corresponding year ago quarter (y-o-y) and a negative comprehensible income of Rs 187.1 million for the immediate trailing quarter Q1-18 (q-o-q).

    Consolidated Net Profit after tax for the current quarter was Rs 73.3 million as compared to a y-o-y loss of Rs 11.4 million and a q-o-q loss of Rs 142.8 million. Total Comprehensible loss attributable to non-controlling interest in the company declined to Rs 1.9 million in Q2-18 as compared to a Total Comprehensible loss attributable to non-controlling interest of Rs 50.3 million in Q2-17 and Total Comprehensible loss attributable to non-controlling interest of Rs 23.2 million in Q1-18.

    Consolidated Total Income in Q2-18 declined 6 percent to Rs 2,349.7 million as compared to Rs 2,500.8 million in Q2-17, but was 3.6 percent higher than the Rs 2,267.2 million in Q1-18.

    Consolidated Total Expenditure declined 8.1 percent y-o-y in the current quarter to Rs 2,474.4 million from Rs 2,692.7 million and was 1.9 percent lower q-o-q as compared to Rs 2,523 million.

    Watch this space for more …