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Tag: subscribers

  • Reliance Jio maintains lead, gains 4.7 million users in April: TRAI

    Reliance Jio maintains lead, gains 4.7 million users in April: TRAI

    New Delhi: Reliance Jio’s reign over the market continues, as the telecom major added 4.7 million mobile subscribers in April, according to the latest data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). Its subscriber base has now reached 427.6 million across the country.

    The Mukesh Ambani-led company had earlier doubled the net mobile user additions in March compared to February.

    However, its rival Vodafone Idea lost 1.8 million customers in April, after gaining 1.08 million subscribers in March. Its subscriber base has now dropped to 281.9 million in April.

    Bharti Airtel also recorded a decline in the number of net subscriber additions. The company added 0.51 million wireless customers in April, compared to 4.05 million subscribers in March. Its user base rose marginally to 352.9 million.


    x`Overall, the number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,201.20 million at the end of March to 1,203.47 million at the end of April, showing a monthly growth rate of 0.19 per cent over the previous month. “The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscription were 0.08 per cent and 0.32 per cent, respectively, during the month of April,” said the regulatory body.

    The overall tele-density in India increased from 88.17 per cent at the end of March to 88.27 per cent at the end of April. The share of urban subscribers in the total number of telephone subscribers at the end of April was 55.20 per cent, while it was 44.80 per cent for the rural areas.

    As per the reports received from 438 operators in the month of April, 2021, the number of broadband subscribers increased from 778.09 million at the end of March to 782.86 million at the end of April with a monthly growth rate of 0.61 per cent, said TRAI.

    The top five service providers constituted 98.8 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of April. These included- Reliance Jio Infocomm (430.47 million), Bharti Airtel (194.18 million), Vodafone Idea (122.54 million), BSNL (24.52 million) and Atria Convergence (1.87 million).

  • Pandemic drags down DishTV India’s FY’21 financials

    MUMBAI: India’s first DTH operator Dish TV India continues to slog it out to get out of the financial quagmire it has got itself into. That’s despite the fact that the company  has seen a loss of subscribers in its latest quarter ended 31 March 2021 and for the full year, its top line has dipped even as it continues to report losses. According to its audited Q4 FY 21 results released yesterday, Dish TV India  has reported consolidated subscription revenues of Rs  685.2 crore (Rs 776.6 crore in Q4 FY’20) and operating revenues of Rs  751.7 crore (Rs 869.06 crore). EBITDA for the quarter was Rs 426 crore (Rs 543.2 crore). Net loss was Rs 1415.3 crore as against a loss of Rs 1456.2 crore  in the same quarter last year.

    Subscription revenues for the whole year have fallen from Rs 3192.8 crore in FY ’20 to Rs 2987.4 crore in FY’21, even  as operating revenues saw a reduction to Rs 3249.4 crore as against Rs 3556.3 crore in FY20.  EBITDA for the full year fell to Rs 2017 crore as against Rs 2106 crore in FY’20. However, to its credit, it has reduced the red ink on its bottomline to Rs 1189.9 crore as against Rs 1654.8 crore in the previous financial year.

    What helped it shore up its performance in the latest financial year is its hard focus on shaving expenditure which it has reduced by 15 per cent to Rs 1232.4 crore as against Rs 1450.4 crore in FY ’20.  

    Dish TV management said the company has been hit by the sporadic lockdowns due to the ongoing pandemic during the year and the last quarter. “The later part of the fourth quarter saw re-emergence of urban to rural migration, amongst migrant workers. The sporadic lockdowns have left many in the aspiring class with reduced disposable incomes while taking a toll on overall consumer confidence. Subscriber churn, thus remained on the higher side during the quarter and full year,” said Dish TV India group CEO Anil Dua in a press release.

    Additionally, the company largely relied on internal cash flows for capital expenditure and for debt reduction. Hence, it kept a tight rein on capital expenditure which in turn limited new subscriber additions, and when compounded with high subscriber churn, it  led to a net reduction in its subscriber base.

    Overall, Dish TV repaid Rs 213 crore of its debt in the quarter, reducing its loan  exposure to Rs 809.9 crore at end FY’21 as against  Rs 1817.5 crore at end FY20.  

    Said Dish TV chairman & managing director Jawahar Goel: “The year gone by was difficult but has left us stronger with all the innovations and process improvements in place. However, with continuing uncertainties, we maintain a cautious stand. A strong balance sheet boosts confidence in such tough times and our focus on paying down debt and other liabilities is in that direction only.”

    Dua said that investors need to take heart about the positive manner in which Dish TV has pivoted to take advantage of the opportunities that the pandemic has thrown up. “Effectively, the pandemic rushed the need to innovate. Be it artificial intelligence for resolving customer complaints, enabling work-from home for customer care agents and employees, developing set-top-boxes and other key accessories in India, moving trade partners to a fully digital recharge mode or upgrading our OTT platform, Watcho, we rose to the challenges thrown by the trying year while touching new highs in EBITDA margins.”

    What according to the two of them shows promise is the growth in sign-ons to DishTV’s OTT service Watcho to 25 million by FY 21 year end as against just a million users in January 2020.  Said Dua: “At Dish TV India, it has always been our endeavor to meet the entertainment needs of all our subscribers all the time. Watcho is a step in that direction and delivers a seamless, streaming entertainment experience to viewers through future ready technology and diverse content.”

    Dua is quite optimistic about the company’s fortunes pointing to the important role TV continues to play in viewers lives in India, and believes that a revival in discretionary spending, due to economic activity normalizing going forward, will improve business revenues. The company is going ahead with the procedures relating to raising funds through a rights issue totting up to Rs 1,000 crore.

  • Reliance Jio tops net mobile user additions in March: TRAI

    New Delhi: Reliance Jio has gained over 79 lakh mobile users in March, securing a comfortable lead over rivals Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea, according to the latest monthly data released by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

    The Mukesh Ambani-led company took its customer base to about 42.29 crore. The net mobile user additions in March are double the number recorded in February when the company had added over 42 lakh users.

    On the other hand, Airtel’s user base rose to 35.23 crore with the addition of 40.5 lakh wireless users in March, while Vodafone Idea gained 10.8 lakh customers during March, compared to the previous month. The latter’s customer base has now grown to 28.37 crore, as of 31 March.

    According to the TRAI data for March, the number of telephone subscribers in India rose to 120 crore, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 1.12 per cent. The monthly growth rates of urban and rural telephone subscriptions were 0.92 per cent and 1.37 per cent respectively as of 31 March.

    The total wireless subscribers increased to 118 crore at the end of March, recording a monthly growth rate of 1.13 per cent. Wireless subscriptions in urban areas increased to 64.5 crore at the end of March and that in rural areas rose to 53.5 crore during the same period. Monthly growth rates of urban and rural wireless subscriptions were 0.93 per cent and 1.38 per cent respectively.

    All service areas except Kerala showed growth in their wireless subscribers during the month of March-21. Mumbai area showed maximum growth of 2.93 per cent in its wireless subscriber base during the month.

    According to TRAI, the private access service providers held 89.6 per cent market share of the wireless subscribers while the two PSU access service providers BSNL and MTNL had a market share of only 10.32 per cent, as of 31 March.

    “As per the reports received from 421 operators in the month of March 2021, the number of broadband subscribers increased from 76.5 crore at the end of February 2021 to 77.8 crore at the end of March 2021 with a monthly growth rate of 1.70 per cent, “said the telecom regulator.

    The top five service providers constituted 98.82 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers. Among these service providers were Reliance Jio (42.5 crore), Bharti Airtel (19.1 crore), Vodafone Idea (12.3 crore).

  • India to reach 66 million SVoD users in 2025, report says

    India to reach 66 million SVoD users in 2025, report says

    KOLKATA: The rapid surge of OTT consumption in India is not anymore limited to free usage. A recent report has underlined that the subscription-based model is holding a potential future. India will reach 66 million paid subscribers in 2025, analyst firm Digital TV Research estimates.

    While the Indian market is estimated to triple its subscriber base in 2019, the entire APAC region will also see a substantial increase. The region will have 467 million SVoD subscriptions by 2025, up from 267 million in 2019.

    China will remain the largest contributor at 2025 too with 279 million subscribers. Japan will add 18 million subscribers to reach 40 million. Among other markets, South Korea will exceed 25 million and Australia will surpass the 18 million mark slightly.

    “Although China dominates the region, there will be plenty of growth elsewhere. Netflix will have 44.4 million subscribers by 2025; closely followed by Disney+ [including Hotstar] with 43.6 million,” Digital TV Research principal analyst Simon Murray said.

    This is not the only report which is indicating a huge subscriber growth in the next decade. To capture the opportunity, all the international players are ramping up their investment in premium content while local players are also rising to prominence on the back of consumer insights.

  • NXT Digital does a financial turnaround in FY 2020

    NXT Digital does a financial turnaround in FY 2020

    MUMBAI: Among the early movers in the cable TV industry, the Hinduja group run – NXT Digital has turned out impressive financials for the financial year 2020. The topline has shown significant growth, it has turned EBIDTA positive and how; the red ink on its bottomline has been replaced by fat profits and to top it all it has even declared a dividend of 50 per cent. And it's all thanks to its subsidiary IMCL, which has declared a robust performance over the past four quarters. 

    On a consolidated basis, revenues grew by 65 per cent over FY19, from Rs 704.62crore to Rs 1,162.10crore; operating EBIDTA rose significantly to Rs 218.01crore against a loss of Rs 72.61crore; its PAT is a healthy Rs 110.05 crore as against a loss of Rs 303.43 crore in FY19. Buoyed by the great showing, a dividend of 50 per cent has been declared to the joys of many a shareholder. 

    NXT Digital announced that its HITS platform today has five million subscribers through local cable operators (LCOs) and smaller multisystem operators (MSOs) in 1500 towns all over India, and even in remote places such as Ladkah, Kargul, the far north east and the Andaman, Nicobar and Lakshwadeep islands. The technology, using C-band is not affected by rain or adverse weather and customers in these areas continue to enjoy digital services, uninterrupted. 

    "This kind of outstanding performance consistently over the last four quarters speaks volumes on our commitment towards our subscribers through strong value creation," says IMCL CEO Vynsley Fernandes."We firmly stand committed to further our endeavor of creating an integrated platform for digital services, offering cable TV, satellite, broadband and other digital media, all under one roof. Building an effective framework along with our product bundling strategy has been crucial for our business turnaround in FY20. With close to a 100 per cent prepaid base and a substantial presence in phase 3 and 4 markets, IMCL expects to continue on its digital growth path."

     The company says it has continued to focus on key drivers through FY' 20. Some of these include: 

    * Targeting the the fastest growing segments of semi-urban and rural India. Over 60 per cent of its subscriber base is in these markets which continue to see increasing pay TV penetration as well as growing average revenue per user (ARPU).

     *Growing ARPU through value added services and differentiated products in the cities. Launching innovative products like layering cable TV with broadband and value-added services, coupled with 24X7 services on ground.

     * Successfully implementing the new regulatory framework, set out by the TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) in early 2019. The visionary framework which brought in much needed transparency to the pay TV ecosystem and enhanced subscriber choice has buoyed the business model and set out a clearly defined level playing field for the industry. 

    * Maintaining pre-paid collections at nearly 100 per cent, whilst ensuring low churn through a focused E&R (engagement &retention) model for subscribers and franchisees. 

    * Leveraging its leadership position in technology, whilst improving cost efficiencies. Recently moved to 32APSK technology, that improves satellite throughput by over 30 per cent. 

    * Working closely with its 9,000 plus franchisees to remain focused on the subscriber through continuous enhancement of the quality of service and viewership experience. 

     This apart, the company is working on developing an indigenous set top box keeping in mind the government's Make in India mandate; it has been conducting digital online training for its LCOs; it has built a robust digital payment collection platform, and even rolled out a proactive business continuity plan to ensure that its subscribers get top class service even during cyclone and the ongoing Covid2019 pandemic that has rocked India and the world. 

    Going forward, it plans to expand on its managed services model and has signed on additional MSOs; that should double its subscriber base to 10 million. The company says the model effectively supports these smaller MSOs and LCOs several of whom are unable to sustain their businesses due to increasing costs of connectivity and technology obsolescence. 

    Fernandes adds that the idea is to expand the services its franchisees can offer, making them multi-product and multi- service providers; offering customers a whole range of services from FMCG products to digital and financial solutions. 

    "This will help our franchisees not only sustain their businesses, but diversify and grow their earnings portfolio, across the country," he says. "We remain focused on delivering integrated services to customers, bundling television with broadband services from our ISP subsidiary OneOTT iNTERTAINMENT, which has a presence in over 40 cities."

  • 5 million cable TV subscribers cut the cord during Covid2019

    5 million cable TV subscribers cut the cord during Covid2019

    KOLKATA: The lockdown and its lack of content on television seem to have had an impact on viewers. About 4.5 to five million subscribers have gotten off TV and DTH services since lockdown started. Additionally, several others have downgraded their subscription packages. Coupled together, they have held back revenue income for companies.

    Star and Disney India distribution and international business president and head Gurjeev Singh Kapoor shared the numbers in a webinar hosted by Indiantelevision.com. Kapoor attributed the loss to two reasons – one is commercial establishments cutting the cords and the other is migrants returning home. While he agreed that loss of subscribers coupled with the downgrading of packs led to a revenue loss, he is confident that the ecosystem is in a position to get those consumers back, especially when the economy opens fully. 

    Even though subscribers left or changed packs, the existing viewers provided more eyeballs, most likely because of movies and news keeping them entertained and informed. “During the lockdown, we had 1.2 trillion minutes a week which was the number during the month of April and May and prior to that 0.9 trillion was during January, February. The average time an individual was spending before the lockdown was closer to 20 hours and after lockdown, the number of hours was 27. Television became a good mode of entertaining,” he said.

    The first lockdown with its strict rules made it difficult for cable operators to collect subscription even though TV and cable services were provided uninterrupted. The government even classified them as essential services. To help them out, Star India started a digital recharge campaign to help the fraternity. IndiaCast Media Distribution Ltd president Amit Arora also spoke of initiatives like running tickers and scrolls to push subscribers to pay digitally. There were several reports indicating a drastic fall of DPO collection by 40-50 per cent but Arora said it was not down by such a huge number.

    The lockdown period has been a boon for OTT platforms that saw a surge in users, motivated by free premium packs. This is likely to be a challenge for television. “The whole set of subscribers which came in March have started trickling away in April. So, now we are more preoccupied with how to take this entire journey forward. The business and revenue have to grow for the entire value chain. The customer is going to be very stingy. This time he has discovered new content on OTT.  Is he really going to loosen the purse to hand over money to the traditional platform and broadcasters, these challenges will come as time goes by. It’s more and more partnering between platforms and broadcasters to see us through the entire time of crisis and the bigger challenges that pose ahead of us,” Arora added.

  • Will COVID-19 help Netflix repeat 2019 subscriber gains?

    Will COVID-19 help Netflix repeat 2019 subscriber gains?

    MUMBAI: As Netflix is about to unveil its all-important quarterly results amid expectations that the ongoing pandemic will boost subscriptions, Futuresource Consulting reflects on 2019 as being its best ever year for net subscriber additions (net adds), highlighting countries which are showing significant momentum.

    Netflix gained nearly 28 million subscribers in 2019, driven by many countries which saw the highest yearly net adds since the service launched, indicating that they remain in an accelerating phase of growth. In Germany, Futuresource estimate there was an additional 2 million net sign ups, as Netflix continues to challenge incumbent Amazon Prime Video for the top spot.

    Japan grew by 1.7 million subscribers, significantly beating its previous highest additions. South Korea increased by 1.5 million, double the net adds of the year before, and we also saw Italy, Spain and India, among others, all posting their best year yet.

    With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic shows no signs of abating, increasing the quantity of leisure time spent indoors, Futuresource expects to see Netflix’s next quarterly reporting to indicate how its library of fresh content, provided at good value for money, has driven strong uptake of both new and returning subscribers.

    What is impressive is that many of these countries, particularly Japan, South Korea and Germany have had a relatively long gestation period, during which the global streaming giant experimented with the content length, type and format which appealed most. Subscriber net adds growth reaching the highest level to date is typically indicative of key shows resonating with the audience and therefore becoming topics of discussion within society.

    It is this word-of-mouth and social media traction which inspires new consumers to sign up in order to “see what all the fuss is about”. This therefore creates a self-fulfilling prophecy, generating ever more attention and therefore translating to impressive growth figures, as we saw in 2019.

    Further subscriber growth has come from partnering with telcos and pay-TV operators. Combined billing and allowing consumers to remain within a Pay-TV user interface has added more access points to a growing list of connected devices and TVs it’s available on. Moreover, some operators such as Sky have taken this arrangement to a new level and provided slick integration of Netflix’s content into a carousel along with other premium third-party content, such as hit HBO shows.

    Furthermore, even within established markets such as Brazil, the UK, France, Australia and the Nordics, subscriber growth has continued, which highlights the broad appeal Netflix has. Once it has attracted subscribers, the voluminous content throughout and high quality of said content helps it maintain subscription growth. The UK for example saw subscriptions increase by 2 million in 2019, equal to its previous best ever year just one year prior, but arguably more impressive since it is now taken in 40 per cent of UK households.

    Country by country, Netflix continues to localise and work out what resonates with consumers. The continued momentum in Netflix subscriptions is now also against a backdrop of an increasingly dynamic and diverse competitive landscape. However, the high-profile new service launches are at least in the short term, complementary. In its key countries, Netflix remains the staple service, with the vast majority of SVoD households choosing to subscribe. As we head beyond the lockdown, the key objective won’t just be how many subscribers Netflix adds, but also how it will continue to retain existing subscribers.

  • Netflix unveils new interface for TV

    Netflix unveils new interface for TV

    MUMBAI: Netflix has unveiled a new design that makes it easier for people to discover stories through the TV. The new interface is called App Menu, which aims to offer simpler and easier browsing using fewer buttons on the remote control.

    Netflix director product innovation Stephen Garcia said, “At Netflix, we are constantly asking ourselves what can we do to make it even easier for our members to spend less time browsing and more time discovering stories they will love. We realise that there so many great stories on the service, and that sometimes our members need a little bit of help figuring out where to start. The new interface was based on rigorous research and testing around how we can make it easier to find titles on TVs, where navigation can feel a bit tougher when you are restricted to just a few buttons on a remote control,” according to AdvancedTelevision.com.

    The new design rolled out to Netflix subscribers around the world from 18 July and is built specifically for the restricted navigation experience when using a TV remote.

    According to Garcia, the new TV interface was designed to make the Netflix experience simpler and more intuitive in a few different ways. “We’ve also made it easier to access titles you’ve saved for later viewing in My List. In our testing of this new interface, we saw that this simpler design helped members find something great to watch.”

    Other than the new side navigation bar, the Netflix interface is largely unchanged and is still tile-based with auto playing trailers and a vertical scrolling design.

    “While this may feel like an obvious update to some, validating that this TV experience was better for our members took extensive research, testing and technology improvements. Along those lines, we will continuously learn from our members and evolve the TV experience so that it gets even more simple, fun and easy to find the stories that make Netflix great,” he added.

  • Airtel, Vodafone lead market; UP East adds max subs

    Airtel, Vodafone lead market; UP East adds max subs

    MUMBAI: Witnessing a healthy growth in telecom penetration, the GSM subscriber base in the country grew to 801.81 million in November 2016. COAI, the association of mobile telephony service providers in the country, which released the November GSM subscriber base numbers, has said the number of GSM subscribers witnessed a jump of 10.18 million as compared to the previous month.

    Telecom industry’s steady growth was recorded in net subscriber additions from 2.09 million in August to 10.18 million in November.

    Amongst the telecom companies, Bharti Airtel continued to hold on to the pole position in November, adding another 1.08 million additional subscribers during the month to take its total subscriber base to 263.35 million mobile subscribers. Closely followed by Vodafone with 202.79 million subscribers and Idea Cellular with 187.68 million subscribers. With 32.84%, Bharti Airtel owns the maximum market share in the industry.

    The report, which also assesses the growth of mobile subscribers across various circles in India said, UP East added the maximum number of subscribers (73.82 million) in November and Idea added the maximum number of subscribers (7.43 million) in November.

    Talking about the growth in the subscriber base, COAI director-general Rajan S Mathews said, “The telecommunication industry has again posted a good growth for the month of November 2016. It is heartening to see that the industry is showing signs of a robust growth and we have again moved ahead in ensuring complete connectivity at all levels. Telecom companies have been contributing towards fulfilling the government’s vision of Digital India since beginning and we will continue bridge the digital divide for a fully connected and digitally empowered India.”

    Speaking about the impact made by the telecom industry, he added, “We are an enabler of comprehensive growth. The industry has also ensured that the government’s plans reach even the farthest corners of the country and everyone is equally benefitted from the digital revolution.”

  • Airtel, Vodafone lead market; UP East adds max subs

    Airtel, Vodafone lead market; UP East adds max subs

    MUMBAI: Witnessing a healthy growth in telecom penetration, the GSM subscriber base in the country grew to 801.81 million in November 2016. COAI, the association of mobile telephony service providers in the country, which released the November GSM subscriber base numbers, has said the number of GSM subscribers witnessed a jump of 10.18 million as compared to the previous month.

    Telecom industry’s steady growth was recorded in net subscriber additions from 2.09 million in August to 10.18 million in November.

    Amongst the telecom companies, Bharti Airtel continued to hold on to the pole position in November, adding another 1.08 million additional subscribers during the month to take its total subscriber base to 263.35 million mobile subscribers. Closely followed by Vodafone with 202.79 million subscribers and Idea Cellular with 187.68 million subscribers. With 32.84%, Bharti Airtel owns the maximum market share in the industry.

    The report, which also assesses the growth of mobile subscribers across various circles in India said, UP East added the maximum number of subscribers (73.82 million) in November and Idea added the maximum number of subscribers (7.43 million) in November.

    Talking about the growth in the subscriber base, COAI director-general Rajan S Mathews said, “The telecommunication industry has again posted a good growth for the month of November 2016. It is heartening to see that the industry is showing signs of a robust growth and we have again moved ahead in ensuring complete connectivity at all levels. Telecom companies have been contributing towards fulfilling the government’s vision of Digital India since beginning and we will continue bridge the digital divide for a fully connected and digitally empowered India.”

    Speaking about the impact made by the telecom industry, he added, “We are an enabler of comprehensive growth. The industry has also ensured that the government’s plans reach even the farthest corners of the country and everyone is equally benefitted from the digital revolution.”