ITV

Tag: Phase-II

  • Hathway EBITDA more than triples in Q1-2014 as compared to Q1-2013

    Hathway EBITDA more than triples in Q1-2014 as compared to Q1-2013

    BENGALURU: Indian Multi Systems Operator (MSO) Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited (Hathway) reported EBITDA (including other income) of Rs 77.04 crore for Q1-2014, more than three times (3.23 times) the Rs 23.84 crore for Q1-2013, but 14 per cent lower than the EBITDA of Rs 88.47 crore for Q4-2013.

     

    NOTE: As per Hathway management’s estimates, EBITDA inclusive of Hathway’s economic interest in the EBITDA of its several subsidiaries/JVs/associate companies would aggregate to about Rs 96.0 crore for Q1-2014.

     

    Let us look at Hathway’s other figures for Q1-2014

     

    Hathway reported a total income from operations of Rs 232.65 crore in Q1-2014 which was 70.74 per cent higher than the Rs 132.26 crore in Q1-2013 and almost flat (just 0.64 per cent more) income as compared to the Rs 231.18 crore for Q4-2013.

     

    Hathway’s expense for Q1-2014 at Rs 156.56 crore was 39.14 per cent more than the Rs 112.42 crore for Q1-2013 and 9.7 per cent more than the Rs 142.71 crore for Q4-2013. Hathway’s purchase of stock in trade in Q1-2014 at Rs 0.67 crore was one fifth (5.075 times less) the Rs 3.4 crore in Q1-2013 and only about 41 per cent of the Rs 1.63 crore for Q4-2013.

     

    Staff cost of Rs 13.77 crore for Q1-2014 was 35.53 per cent higher than the Rs 10.16 crore in Q1-2013 and 31.02 per cent higher than the Rs 10.51 crore for Q4-2013.

     

    Paycost of Rs 58.45 crore for Q1-2014 was 50.22 per cent more than the Rs 38.91 crore for Q1-2013 and 18.08 per cent more than the Rs 49.5 crore for Q4-2013.

     

    Other expense at Rs 83.67 crore for Q1-2014 was 39.57 per cent more than the Rs 59.95 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year (Q1-2013) and 3.2 per cent more than the Rs 81.06 crore for the immediate preceding quarter (Q4-2013).

     

    PAT for Q1-2014 at Rs 5.32 crore was however less than one fifth the PAT of Rs 28.27 crore for Q4-2013. In Q4-2013, Hathway had a foreign exchange gain of Rs 5.73 crore, while in Q1-2014; it had incurred a foreign exchange loss of Rs 8.32 crore. Finance cost at Rs 21.61 crore for Q1-2014 was 53.6 per cent more than the Rs 14.07 crore in Q4-2013 and 62 per cent more than the Rs 13.32 crore for Q1-2013.

     

    For Q1-2013, Hathway had reported a loss of Rs (-15.87) crore. The foreign exchange loss incurred by Hathway in Q1-2013 was Rs 4.56 crore.

     

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

     

    Hathway says that it continued to deploy STBs in Q1-2014 and as of June, 2013 along with its JV partners had cumulatively deployed over 0.7 crore STBs all over India and approximately 0.18 crore STBs in Q1-2014. The company says that it has deployed approximately 0.25 crore STBs in Phase I and approximately 0.41 crore STBs in Phase II areas till June 2013, which it says, makes it the biggest MSO in Phase I and II areas.

     

    Hathway informs that it has adequate STBs in hand and continues to roll out its services in major Phase III and IV towns.

     

    Hathway further says that as per MIB (Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India) reports cable television is clearly the preferred choice in Phase II cities also with a near 90 per cent share of digital STBs seeded after 15 February 2013 being seeded by cable MSOs.

     

    In its broadband update Hathway states that the gross additions to its broadband subscriber base was around 27,000 for the Q1-2014. Hathway’s cumulative subscriber base stood at approximately 4,24,000. As on end June 2013, the company says that it has tested its DOCSIS 3 technology for its broadband subscribers in certain cities. With DAS being successfully implemented Hathway expects to increase its broadband customer base with bundled schemes that it plans to offer shortly at competitive rates.

     

    Hathway says that it is in the process of raising funds to the tune of Rs 149.8 crore from its promoters and new shareholders through preferential allotment. The shares of face value Rs10 each are to be issued at a premium of Rs 274 per share (adding up to Rs 284 per share).

  • DAS stay extended in Madhya Pradesh to 15 May

    DAS stay extended in Madhya Pradesh to 15 May

    NEW DELHI: The Madhya Pradesh high court today extended till 15 May the stay on switch-off of analogue signals in the cities of Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur covered in Phase II of digitisation.

    The extension came after the Jabalpur bench of the court noted that some of the respondents (mostly multi-system operators) had not filed their replies to the notice issued in the last hearing, and counsel Greesham Jain for one of the petitioners said he had received the replies in some cases just yesterday and wanted more time to file his counter-affidavit.

    The court is hearing five petitions – including a public interest litigation by a lawyer, a consumer body, one LCO including Rashmi Dubey, and one by an MSO run by Nilesh Rawal linked to Digicable – citing shortage of set top boxes, billing issues and some other problems linked to digital addressable system.

    As on 21 April, the status of seeding in Madhya Pradesh was 86.32 per cent in Bhopal, 103.04.per cent in Indore, and 45.84 per cent in Jabalpur.

    Meanwhile the stay in the Andhra Pradesh for the cities of Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam was extended to 4 June. Stay also continues to be in force in Chennai, which was part of Phase I.

  • I&B minister Manish Tewari’s update on Phase II digitisation data

    I&B minister Manish Tewari’s update on Phase II digitisation data

    New Delhi: The level of cable television digitisation in 38 cities in 14 states and one union territory of Phase II has touched 89.8 per cent, including 28.33 per cent DTH homes as on 21 April, three weeks after analogue switch-off.

    Thus, a total of 14,379,454 digital set top boxes have been seeded out of a total demand of 16,013,059 total TV households. The houses where STBs have been installed include 4,536,676 DTH subscribers.

    According to a report presented to parliament by information & broadcasting minister Manish Tewari yesterday, the total number of TV households has been computed by making provision of twenty per cent for multiple TVs in offices/shops or homes.

    Pointing out that a toll free number receives complaints from subscribers and others, Tewari said these are normally forwarded to the multi-system operators in the area concerned.

    14 cities have already crossed the 100 per cent with Hyderabad at the top with 191.07 per cent followed by Ludhiana (175.91 per cent), Allahabad (160.46 per cent), Faridabad (142.69 per cent), Chandigarh (119.23 per cent), Meerut (112.24 per cent), Jaipur (111.84 per cent), Varanasi (111.78 per cent), Amritsar (111.03 per cent), Thane (109.33 per cent), Jodhpur (107.94 per cent), Aurangabad (103.37 per cent), Indore (102.29 per cent), and Nasik (101.75 per cent).

    By the government’s own claim, Ghaziabad, Pune and Kanpur have crossed the 90 per cent mark.

    Srinagar stands at the bottom with 22.28 per cent seeding of STBs, with Visakhapatnam at 29.61 per cent, Coimbatore at 29.74 per cent, and Jabalpur with a DAS reach of only 45.32 per cent. All the other 17 cities have crossed the 57 per cent mark.

    The ministry had announced earlier this month that analogue signals has been completely switched-off in the five states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

    DAS continues to be stayed in the cities of Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam. The Karnataka and Gujarat High Courts had learlier this month quashed petitions seeking extension of DAS thereby paving way for the analogue signals to be switched-off. In addition, stay continues in Chennai which was part of Phase I because of court case.

    The Supreme Court is expected to hear tomorrow a special leave petition by the Indian Broadcasting Foundation seeking to quash all pending cases in various high courts and also ensure there is no postponement of the date of digitisation.

  • 88 per cent digitisation achieved in Phase II, says Varma

    88 per cent digitisation achieved in Phase II, says Varma

    NEW DELHI: The level of digitisation has reached around 88 per cent in the 38 cities covered in fourteen states and one union territory for Phase II of Digital Addressable System (DAS), a top Information & Broadcasting ministry official tells Indiantelevision.com.

    This includes seeding of set top boxes (STBs) done by direct-to-home (DTH) operators.

    I&B ministry secretary Uday Kumar Varma reveals that fifteen to sixteen cities have achieved total digitisation.

    However, he cautions that the government was still in the process of collating all the figures and would bring a detailed report after its review. The Secretary said he is personally in constant touch with the Nodal Officers and MSOs to ensure that the cities in remaining states also speed up the process of digitisation.

    He clarified that while announcing the switch-off of analogue on 31 March, the Government said it would watch the situation for around two weeks and was now reviewing the reports coming being receiving on the achievement so far.

    The Ministry had announced last week that analogue signals had been completely switched-off in the five states of Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Haryana, and the Union Territory of Chandigarh.

    Stay continues to be in force in the cities of Bhopal, Indore, Jabalpur, Hyderabad, and Visakhapatnam. The metropolis of Chennai which was part of Phase I also has a stay order in force.

    The Karnataka and Gujarat High Courts had yesterday quashed petitions seeking extension of DAS thereby paving way for the analogue signals to be switched-off.

  • IBF moves Supreme Court over DAS Phase II hold-ups

    IBF moves Supreme Court over DAS Phase II hold-ups

    NEW DELHI: Concerned with the increase in the number of petitions that have been filed in the past two weeks leading to a stay on the spread of cable TV digitisation (Digital Addressable System – DAS) in several states, the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) has knocked on the doors of the country‘s apex court seeking a stay on the stay orders issued by different high courts in the country.

    The IBF petition seeks to ensure that digitisation is implemented as scheduled and without any hindrance. The supreme court has posted the matter for hearing on 23 April.

    The special leave petition filed by the IBF did come up before the SC, however the apex court refused to intervene after it was informed that the Karnataka high court judgment on the case was due.

    The bench comprising chief justice Altamas Kabir therefore felt that the court would wait for the Karnataka High Court judgment before taking up the matter.

    In the meanwhile, the Karnataka and Gujarat high courts have dismissed the petition petitions filed by Karnataka State Cable TV Operators Association (KSCOA) and Cable Operators Association of Gujarat (COAG) respectively paving the way for DAS Phase II to commence.

    However, petitions challenging digitisation are still pending in the Andhra Pradesh High Court and Madhya Pradesh High Court. These affect the cities of Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam, Bhopal. Indore, and Jabalpur.

    According to IBF president Man Jit Singh, the broadcasters association wants a full and final closure on this issue by the Supreme Court so that digitisation can progress smoothly across its various phases as has been drawn up by the government in conjunction with industry.

    Also read:

    DAS extension pleas quashed in Karnataka and Gujarat

    Gujarat HC dismisses petitions seeking DAS extension

    Karnataka HC dismisses KSCOA petition, paves way for analogue cable switch-off

  • Industry airs views on Phase II digitisation “grace period”

    Industry airs views on Phase II digitisation “grace period”

    MUMBAI: What does the industry think about the government‘s decision to allow a grace period of 15 days for the rollout of phase II digitisation in some cities? Well, we at indiantelevision.com decided to find out by speaking to a cross section of industry to find out.

    Indian Broadcasting Foundation (IBF) president and Multi Screen Media (MSM) CEO Manjit Singh, who is in Kolkata for the first match of the IPL, is clear that “as a broadcaster I would have preferred the government not giving any grace period. But since the ministry is more aware of the ground situation, I will go with its decision.”

    Hinduja Ventures Ltd whole time director Ashok Mansukhani believes that “if the government wanted to give a grace period of 15 days, it should have been after consultation with the MSOs who have been entrusted with the task of majorly implementing digitisation. Where it has been substantially implemented, there was no need to give a grace period. Where deployment is below 20 per cent, discussion could have been held on a longer timeline than 15 days.”

    Mansukhani adds that he would like the digitisation numbers of Phase II which are being released to be revisited for some localities. “There is some dispute about the numbers,” he says.

    He highlights that the objective of digitisation is to end under-declaration by cable TV operators. “If DAS Phase II deployment is uneven then government could have taken a two step process where pay TV channels could have been switched off first and the free to air channels later to allow for a smooth transition,” he says.

    Hathway Cable & Datacom MD & CEO Jagdish Kumar is of the opinion that from his network‘s perspective he would have preferred not to have a grace period at all. “From our perspective, we are well prepared with the ability to deploy set top boxes to almost 90 per cent of our and our joint venture networks,” he says.

    He points out that the lack of initiative on the part broadcasters to sign “digital agreements for phase II towns has been disappointing. We are working with broadcasters to get them moving. Basically, the industry is toying with a fixed fee or cost per subscriber deals.”

    DEN Networks COO M.G. Azhar is of the view that it was good the government has given the grace period keeping the consumers in mind. “Where set top boxes (STBs) have not been deployed effectively, the consumer should not face an analogue blackout,” he says.

    Tata Sky MD & CEO Harit Nagpal has the final word. Speaking to Indiantelevision.com yesterday, he had said that there was “no need for a grace period as the DTH operators are more than equipped to meet the STB demand wherever there is a shortage.”

  • Govt gives 15 days grace for phase II cable TV digitisation

    Govt gives 15 days grace for phase II cable TV digitisation

    NEW DELHI: Ever since the ministry of information and broadcasting ministry announced that it was enforcing 31 March 2013 for Phase II cable TV digitization and switch-ff of analogue signals in 38 cities in 14 states, there have been yelps from state government chief ministers and cable TV operators, and MSOs all over.

    Media reports were that a large number of viewers in these cities are grappling with blank TV screens as cable TV operators have not been able to speedily provide the set top boxes (STBs) needed to digitize. Some state governments went so far as to ask for a six-month extension to the digitization deadline. A couple of high courts – in Karnataka and Gujarat – had already agreed to a week long postponement in late March and on 1 April

    Late last night, according to a PTI report, the government heard the protesters’ pleas and said it would go slow on enforcing the black out of analogue signals. While categorically stating that the deadline was not being extended, information & broadcasting secretary Uday Kumar Varma, said that the industry was being given “a transition time of 10 to 15 days depending on the ground level situation so that there is no inconvenience to the people.”

    Reports are that almost 25 per cent of the 16 million households in these cities missed the deadline to switchover to digitized cable TV. The ministry has hence told MSOs and cable TV operators “to switch off the signals in a phased manner and depending on the situation in various cities.”

    Says the head of a leading MSO: “It’s good to hear that the government has given us this grace period. During the day there were ghastly reports that nodal officers and SDMs in various cities were threatening cable TV operators and MSOs with arrests if they did not switch off analogue TV signals. This should come as a relief to all of them. As it is we have not been able to sign digital agreements with a majority of broadcasters for these cities. Hopefully we will be able to do something soon.”

    Sources indicate that the ground situation in various cities is varied and that the I&B ministry officials would coordinate with the local nodal officers in order to decide the timing and extent of analogue TV switch offs in order to avoid blank TV screens.

    Data available with the I&B ministry has revealed that towns which are facing a problem include: Vishakapatnam with 12.8 per cent digitization (out of 500,000 TV homes); Srinagar with 20 per cent, Coimbatore with 28.89 per cent, Jababalpur with 34.87 per cent and Kalyan Dombivili (38.59 per cent). Seven of the 38 cities had achieved 100 per cent plus digitization: Ludhiana, Hyderabad, Faridabad, Allahabad, Amritsar, Chandigarh and Jodhpur — reported 100 per cent digitisation while three others — Thane, Meerut and Jaipur — had 90 per cent plus.

    Varma’s announcement came a little after indiantelevision.com reported that cable TV operators had got a reprieve in the Andhra Pradesh high court too. Justice M V Ramanna had directed DAS to be stayed for two weeks and the case is expected to be heard on 15 April. The order came on a petition by the Greater Hyderabad Cable TV Operators Association which took the position that there was no clarity regarding the availability of STBs.

  • DTH Assn’s Harit Nagpal: “We can plug the shortfall in STBs in Phase II”

    DTH Assn’s Harit Nagpal: “We can plug the shortfall in STBs in Phase II”

    MUMBAI: They are being pretty direct. DTH TV operators have categorically stated that they can definitely fill the gap should there be any shortage of set top boxes in any city under phase II of the government mandated digitsation of cable TV.

    “Digitisation does not need to be postponed,” says DTH Association of India president Harit Nagpal emphatically “ We have been digitizing the TV industry for the past seven years. We have national contracts with the broadcasters, which we keep working on with them. We have adequate stocks of STBs and trained manpower to meet any demand which crops up in any city should cable TV operators not be in a position to deliver the set top boxes to their customers.”

    He is pretty confident that this can be done overnight. “At Tata Sky we have about 1.5 million set top boxes in stock,” he reveals. “I am speaking for all DTH operators: If there is a colony or a ward or a pincode which is feeling the shortage, we can rush boxes there overnight to plug the shortage.”

    Nagpal believes that media reports claiming that 50 per cent of homes in some cities are facing a TV blackout could be attributable to independent cable TV operators in these cities not clearly reporting the number of STBs they have installed. “I think it is a reporting problem,” he says. “The number of TV homes not receiving signals is much lower. Some anomalies like this are bound to occur on an exercise of this scale.”

    DTH today accounts for about 27-28 per cent of the entire pay TV base in this country with about 40 million active subscribers according to the DTH association.

    Also, according to MIB reports almost 40 per cent of the digitization that has been achieved in the 38 cities has been done by DTH players, among which figure Tata Sky, Airtel, Videocon d2H, DishTV, Sun, DDDirect, Big TV.

  • Siti Cable gets Rs 810 mn first tranche from promoters

    Siti Cable gets Rs 810 mn first tranche from promoters

    NEW DELHI: Siti Cable Network has received the first tranche of Rs 810 million as part of the Rs 3.24 billion it is raising from promoter firms to fund digitisation and cut its debt.

    The balance amount will be released in appropriate time as the multi-system operator (MSO) plans to expand and digitise its network.

    Siti Cable had recently received approval of the Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to raise Rs 3.24 billion from promoter entities.

    According to the approval, the company will issue 162 million warrants convertible into equivalent number of equity shares at a price of Rs 20 per warrant.

    The total promoter shareholding after conversion of all the warrants will rise to 73.08 per cent from 63.43 per cent. The public holding will drop to 26.92 per cent from 36.57 per cent.

    Siti Cable will invest in upgrading its digital infrastructure further and enter into newer strategic markets. The company believes that it is well poised to benefit from the ongoing digitisation implementation and penetrate the market at a faster rate.The company has implemented the first phase of digitisation of television signals in its key markets of Kolkata, New Delhi and Mumbai. In its Phase-II cities, the company is aggressively seeding the set-top boxes (STBs) to meet the deadline.

    Subscriber billing and collection has been initiated in Delhi and Mumbai. The company said it has made significant progress on billing and collections in Delhi and “is making a good progress in Mumbai too”.

    In Kolkata the company claimed it has overcome the initial resistance and the billing has started since mid February for over one million subscribers.

  • Around 6.6 mn STBs still to be installed in 38 cities of Phase II of DAS

    Around 6.6 mn STBs still to be installed in 38 cities of Phase II of DAS

    NEW DELHI: A total of 6.59 million cable television homes in the 38 cities which are to be covered in Phase II of digitisation have still to receive set-top boxes, just three weeks ahead of the deadline of 31 March.

    The level of digitisation in the cities had reached 58.84 per cent including 25.85 per cent of direct-to-home homes as on 8 March.

    Information and Broadcasting Ministry sources claimed a total of 5.28 million cable homes had received set top boxes as on 8 March, apart from 4.14 homes on DTH.

    The sources said a total of 16.01 million total TV sets had to be digitised by making provision of 20 per cent for multiple TVs in houses and TVs in offices/shops. The total number of TV Households according to Ministry statistics is 13.34 million.

    Of the 38 cities, Bangalore leads with 7,50,181 STBs installed, followed by Hyderabad with 7,33,729, while Coimbatore, Visakhapatnam, and Srinagar were at the bottom of the list with no STB installation as on 8 March.

    The Ministry has set up a Task Force exclusively for Phase II cities to oversee and monitor the digitisation process. A public awareness Committee has also been constituted in the Ministry for spearheading awareness campaign and all TV channels have started to run a scroll informing consumers about the deadline for cable TV digitisation, as also an animated commercial.

    All India Radio has also started broadcasting of the radio jingles on its National and regional networks for creating public awareness. Several other initiatives like SMS campaign, video spots and print advertisements etc. are on the anvil. The State Governments/UTs have already nominated nodal officers in 38 cities of Phase II. The Ministry had recently conducted a workshop for them.

    It is planned to organise a second workshop shortly to take stock of preparedness in Phase II cities. A regional workshop was also held recently at Bangalore to sensitise local MSOs, cable operators and other stakeholders.

    The Ministry had set up a Control Room during Phase I, which has continued to function to address the queries of consumers, cable operators and others. The Control Room which also has a toll free number has been receiving a number of calls from consumers of Phase II cities.

    In order to facilitate cable TV digitisation in 38 cities of Phase II, the Ministry has already issued provisional registration to 30 Independent MSOs to operate in Phase II cities. This would enable these MSOs to operate in their respective cities to provide digital cable TV services.

    For the second phase, the 38 specific cities and areas which have been listed in the notification are Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Surat, Kanpur, Jaipur, Lucknow, Nagpur, Patna, Indore, Bhopal, Thane, Ludhiana, Agra, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Nashik, Vadodara, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Rajkot, Meerut, Kalyan-Dombivali, Varanasi, Amritsar, Navi Mumbai, Aurangabad, Solapur, Allahabad, Jabalpur, Srinagar, Visakhapatnam, Ranchi, Howrah, Chandigarh, Coimbatore, Mysore and Jodhpur.