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Tag: Vynsley Fernandes

  • NxtDigital reports revenue of Rs 548.9 crore in H1 FY23

    NxtDigital reports revenue of Rs 548.9 crore in H1 FY23

    Mumbai: Hinduja Group’s NxtDigital has reported consolidated half-yearly financial results for the fiscal ended 30 September 2022.

    In comparison to the previous fiscal’s equivalent half-year revenue of Rs 543.2 crore, revenue of Rs 548.9 crore has been generated.

    Profits before interest, depreciation, and taxes (Ebitda) increased to Rs 109.3 crore from Rs 102.9 crore in the same period of the previous year.

    For the quarter ended 30 September, the company has improved its Ebitda performance to Rs 55.26 crore as against Rs 51.64 crore recorded the previous year and Rs 54.09 crore for the immediately preceding quarter of the current year.

    Due to the company’s continued focus on new growth drivers, all of its media and communications platforms, including its digital television and broadband verticals, experienced stability in the second quarter.

    Last month, it introduced its 100th honourable NXTHUB, giving users seamless access to broadband, digital television, and OTT content.

    Based on a legally binding MoU with Thaicom, one of the top satellite operators in the world, and following extensive and fruitful testing, NxtDigital is soon to introduce broadband-over-satellite services. In addition to public WiFi and drones to improve rural digital solutions and space-based data technologies for agriculture and resource management, this will be the first step of providing satellite AI solutions.

    The organisation has also concentrated on creating digital solutions based on market dynamics throughout this quarter. It will soon introduce ONEDigital, a one-of-a-kind and cutting-edge all-in-one service that provides consumers with access to the internet, digital television, OTT, public and building WIFI, CCTV systems, and voice over IP/intercom. The company has also created the digital content aggregator app NXTPLAY, which is ready for release and offers over 3,00,000 hours of content from top international and regional OTT networks.

    It has started its ambitious project, NXT Sangram, with the goal of training over 10,000 of its last mile owners or franchisees to make the paradigm shift and become digital services partners, capable of meeting all the digital needs of their communities, in line with these initiatives and building out a digital ecosystem on a national scale.

    NxtDigital MD & CEO Vynsley Fernandes said, “We have remained committed this fiscal to developing solutions to drive growth, based on the dynamic environment and changing consumer preferences. Those focused efforts and technological innovations will now take centre stage as we look to shortly roll out our broadband-over-satellite services, our digital content aggregator app NXTPLAY and ONEDigital, an integrated all-in-one solution that defines true digital convergence. Our ecosystem too has been upgraded in line with delivering solutions for digital communities.”

    The draft scheme of arrangement between NxtDigital, Hinduja Global Solutions, and their respective shareholders has been approved, among other things, by the board of directors of the company. Minority shareholders strongly approved the scheme, with 99.99 per cent of them voting in favour of it at the extraordinary general meeting of shareholders held on 2 September  to approve the scheme of arrangement between the company and Hinduja Global Solutions. On 13 October, the NCLT will have its last hearing.

    In the second corporate action, the company’s board of directors approved the proposed scheme of arrangement between NxtDigital and Hinduja Leyland Finance (HLFL) and their respective shareholders, subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals, for the merger of HLFL with the company. The share exchange ratio for the proposed transfer was also approved by the board. The company is working to get all the required legal, regulatory, and other clearances for the deal.

  • Nxtdigital records revenue growth of 5% Y-o-Y to Rs 279.1 crore for Q1 FY23

    Nxtdigital records revenue growth of 5% Y-o-Y to Rs 279.1 crore for Q1 FY23

    Mumbai: On a consolidated basis, Nxtdigital has registered a revenue growth of 5 per cent year-on-year to Rs 279.1 crore for the quarter ended 30 June, as against Rs 266.6 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, according to the company’s statement. 

    The company announced its results for the first quarter of the current financial year FY23 during its board meeting. It achieved earnings before interest, depreciation & taxes (EBIDTA) of Rs 54.1 crore, a growth of 6 per cent year-on-year for Q1 of the financial year 2022-23 as against Rs 51.2 crore for the corresponding quarter of the previous year and Rs 56.5 crore (excluding profit on the sale of land) for the previous quarter.

    The wired subscriber base, including video and broadband, has grown by 10 percent year-on-year; closing the quarter at 5.3 million homes connected, against 4.8 million last year.

    Nxtdigital managing director & CEO Vynsley Fernandes said “Our strategy for this fiscal is to continue to leverage our expanding digital product portfolio, vast national footprint, and emerging technologies to drive growth. Our approach is to garner a greater share of the customer wallet across multiple services rather than focusing on average revenue per user (ARPU) growth of individual product verticals.”

    He further added, “On the other hand, we are putting our might behind our emerging technologies offerings like broadband-over-satellite as we look to expand our digital services even beyond India.”

    The growth factors 

    The company has made significant progress on broadband-over-satellite; post a binding MOU with Thaicom Public Company Ltd. which provides broadband-over-satellite and related services in India.

    Nxtdigital’s focus on rapidly building out digital products and solutions to cater to changing consumer preferences and market dynamics, while continuing to strengthen its customer footprint across the country, was the most important factor in its growth.

    The company covers over 4,500 pin codes in over 1,500 cities and towns, offering a variety of digital products such as digital television, broadband, and OTT. 

    Its unique integrated product of digital television, broadband, and over-the-top (OTT) drives customer retention, while the aggregator-based “Strategic Alliance Partner” model continues to attract more ISPs to its broadband vertical.

  • Nxtdigital records revenue of Rs 1152.19 crore for FY22

    Nxtdigital records revenue of Rs 1152.19 crore for FY22

    Mumbai: Nxtdigital Ltd on Wednesday announced the results for financial year 2022. The media and communications company recorded revenue of Rs 1,152.19 crore for the year ending 31 March, registering a growth of 14.3 per cent year-on-year.

    The company clocked earnings before interest, depreciation, and taxes (EBIDTA) of Rs 256.22 crore registering a growth of 10.4 per cent YoY. The revenue and EBIDTA for the year include Rs 69.30 crore and Rs 43.88 crore, respectively, arising out of the ‘real estate’ segment of the company.

    The consolidated profit after tax for the year is Rs 1.91 crore as against a loss Rs 13.90 crore in the previous year.

    The company posted consolidated revenue of Rs 344.55 crore in the fourth quarter ended 31 March. It clocked an EBIDTA of Rs 100.41 crore.  Revenue and EBIDTA for the quarter include Rs 69.30 crore and Rs 43.88 crore respectively arising out of the ‘real estate’ segment of the company.

    The media and entertainment segment recorded an EBIDTA of Rs 56.53 crore for the quarter. The consolidated PAT for the quarter stood at Rs 84.46 crore. PAT for the quarter is inclusive of the profit from ‘real estate’ segment of the company.

    “We have remained singularly focused on the changing consumer preferences, in no small measure impacted by the lockdown periods; and have accelerated our digital transformation in line with the same,” said Nxtdigital managing director and CEO Vynsley Fernandes. “Our performance across all segments of our business reflects that mission. Offering a “combo” of digital television, broadband and OTT is now our norm, rather than the exception; whilst we will continue to expand our footprint through the launch of more Nxthubs.”

  • VBS 2022: Over-regulation could impede pay-TV industry’s growth in near-term

    VBS 2022: Over-regulation could impede pay-TV industry’s growth in near-term

    Mumbai: Over-regulation could impede the pay-TV industry’s growth in the near term, especially amid rising competition from the OTT platforms, and DD Free Dish’s expanding territories, highlighted industry stakeholders at the Video and Broadband Summit (VBS) 2022 on Wednesday.

    The day-long virtual event organised by Indiantelevision.com and co-powered by broadpeak concluded its 18th edition. Disney Star came on board as the presenting partner, while NxtDigital was the summit partner.

    The event witnessed an engaging panel discussion among experts from the broadcast and DTH industry as well as other stakeholders as they examined the challenges faced by the pay-TV industry and deliberated on the opportunities that lay ahead. The session was moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari.

    Overview of pay-TV industry

    TV penetration in India is currently estimated at 60 per cent which means that a third of the households are yet to own a TV set. There are around 210 million TV households, growing at seven per cent year-on-year and adding six-to-seven million new homes. The data also suggests that about 12-14 million TV sets are sold every year.

    While markets like Tamil Nadu and Kerala have a strong TV presence with 98 per cent and 92 per cent penetration, respectively, other markets like Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa have a huge headroom for growth. In some markets such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh TV penetration is as low as ~40 per cent.

    The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) estimated that there are 130 million pay-TV homes in the country. Linear pay-TV business average revenue per user is ~Rs 240 which is less than $3.5.

    “The data shows that there are 300 million homes with 4.5 people on average. While the population may remain the same going forward, the number of households will increase owing to nuclearisation of families,” observed Tata Sky chief financial officer Sambasivan G highlighting the headroom for growth in the coming years. “More households will mean more opportunity for pay-TV to grow.”

    Migration to DD Free Dish

    According to the panellists, free DTH platforms like DD Free Dish are also invading the pay-TV territories and expanding their share. According to the latest data, DD Free Dish run by public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has doubled its base from 20 million to 40 million in the last five years.

    “In the last two years, we have seen the migration to Free Dish gaining momentum,” said Star and Disney India head – distribution and international (India) Gurjeev Singh Kapoor. Drawing attention to the impact of the pandemic, Kapoor said, pay-TV homes had tumbled down by two to three million as consumers moved to free TV because they did not have disposable incomes.

    Ernst and Young media and entertainment advisory services partner Ashish Pherwani noted that the upcoming FICCI report in March will show a further decline of six million households in the pay-TV universe. The report will also indicate a big growth in the number of connected TV (CTV) households. “If you look at pay-TV plus CTV then there’s a growth that will continue in the future,” he said.

    Den Networks CEO SN Sharma maintained that while Free Dish was a noble service that provided entertainment to lakhs of viewers, the challenge emerged when broadcasters charged distributed platform operators (DPOs) money for offering pay channels but gave it free of cost on Free Dish. “There must be a level playing field in terms of regulation,” he said.

    Serving the FTA audience

    Broadcasters and distributors agreed that the TV consumer in India exists on a spectrum where at the top of the pyramid there’s a customer who watches linear TV, broadband video, and OTT whereas at the bottom of the pyramid there’s a customer who prefers to watch only free TV. “For any product and not just TV, you’ll have a market where there will be a free, a pay, and a premium offering,” said Pherwani.  

    “Free TV exists even in mature markets such as the US, Europe, Australia, and the Indian consumer always wants more for less,” commented Indiacast president- affiliate sales- India, South Asia, and APAC Amit Arora. “The bulk of DAS 3 and DAS 4 markets are going to remain connected to the TV, however, growth remains a bigger challenge.”

    According to the panellists, broadcasters have discovered that being available on Free Dish and serving the FTA audience makes more business sense than moving away from the platform. “Somewhere in 2019, when broadcasters went off Free Dish it was estimated to have a base of 30 million. That audience segment remained there,” observed Amit Arora. “We should look at a different solution and attack the market where free TV is present, rather than wishing this problem will go away if we knock off our channels from Free Dish.”

    Star and Disney India’s Gurjeev Singh Kapoor also agreed. “When we vacated that platform (Free Dish) we saw other channels emerging as number one, therefore not being present on Free Dish is not a sensible proposition. You need to have content to entertain people who have less disposable income,” he contended.

    According to Nxtdigital CEO Vynsley Fernandes, free TV audiences can be wooed back to pay-TV by offering them a better product. “A Free Dish customer watches 100 channels for free by paying a one-time nominal fee for the set-top-box (STB),” he said. “We created a lifetime-free product that bundled 300 free channels where the customer had to pay a one-time fee for a digital STB. This allowed them to watch any free channel and upgrade their service to access pay channels if they wanted.”

    He added, “broadcasters and DPOs need to work together to develop products that cater to different socio-economic classes. Today, we’re struggling to figure out what those step-up products can be because you can’t create a thousand different products.”

    NTO 2.0 regulation

    After the first tariff order was implemented in February 2019, it took six months for TV viewership to stabilise and consumers to successfully migrate to the new tariff regime. Pay-TV subscribers declined by 12-15 million according to industry estimates which were compounded by the pandemic which struck in March 2020. Experts on the panel believe that the implementation of the new tariff order (NTO) 2.0 during this period of economic recovery would only disturb the whole ecosystem.

    “This black swan event has changed the consumption patterns on TV, meanwhile, 20-30 million subscribers have dropped from linear TV due to transitioning from one tariff regime to another,” said Amit Arora. “A lot of economies have shown that restrictive policies do not lead to fundamental growth of the sector. What we need right now is a broad paradigm and notover-regulation”

    Highlighting that India has immense competition in the broadcasting sector with 900+ channels and pressure from OTT and Free Dish platforms as well, Gurjeev Singh Kapoor said, in such a market, “the regulator should treat broadcasters with forbearance and let market forces prevail.”

    Adding further, he said, “The average ARPUs for satellite and cable TV and DTH providers is Rs 240. But if you look at what broadcasters walk away with, it is not even one dollar. Is that kind of business model sustainable? We have to look at what the consumer can pay best.”

    Tata Sky chief financial officer Sambasivan G said, said, there was no to flinch from any price increase as a result of NTO 2.0. “We are charging the customer 50 per cent of what we were charging them 20 years ago for double the content. That means the customer is getting four times the value. Even with a price increase we will still be the cheapest pay TV market in the world,” he asserted.

    “The status quo should be maintained for some time,” believed SN Sharma. “Broadcasters have hiked their channel prices by as much as 80 per cent but DPOs are not in a position to handle these kind of price hikes. This kind of disruption will disturb the whole pay TV ecosystem.”

    Parity in regulation of OTT and pay TV platforms

    SN Sharma observed that all major broadcasters are operating their own OTT platforms and offering their pay channels for relatively low cost compared to pay TV. “There must be parity in pricing on cable TV and on OTT,” he stated.

    Commenting on the issue, Gurjeev Singh Kapoor said, “OTT in India is still a second screen phenomenon where a large portion of OTT content is consumed on mobile. It is still not a living room experience. So, I don’t think it is fair to compare linear TV and OTT pricing.”

    He added, “In a market like India with 300 million homes, there are 10 million homes that watch TV content on OTT which is not a big number. So, we’re missing the forest for the trees.”

    “All our linear TV channels are behind the paywall on OTT and not on AVOD. I believe we should be talking about deregulation of linear TV rather than regulating OTT,” remarked Amit Arora.

  • Important to have a product portfolio that can stand the next decade of digital growth: NxtDigital CEO

    Important to have a product portfolio that can stand the next decade of digital growth: NxtDigital CEO

    Mumbai: NxtDigital has upskilled 30-35 per cent of its workforce in digital technology, in addition to making a complete shift to the pre-paid model through enabling digital payment mechanisms, said MD and CEO Vynsley Fernandes as he talked about the company’s transformation from a cable company into a digital platforms company.

    Fernandes was in a fireside chat with Indiantelevision.com group founder CEO and editor-in-chief Anil Wanvari at the 18th edition of Video & Broadband Summit (VBS 2022) organised by Indiantelevision.com on Wednesday.

    Pandemic as the trigger point

    The digital metamorphosis of NxtDigital, as well as the ecosystem as a whole, started a couple of years back in 2019 when the new tariff regime (NTO) was introduced, but it was the pandemic that actually gave impetus to it. “One of the biggest learnings from the pandemic was that digital aspirations are not limited to the city dweller. The tier 2, 3, and 4 towns, even though poorly connected to both TV and broadband, are equally aspirational. At least 60 per cent of our base comes from the semi-urban, semi-rural and rural markets, and yet there’s still significant growth that has to be achieved,” said Fernandes.

    Realising the importance of supporting these markets, the company set up digital Nxthubs at locations across India to deliver digital TV with up to 650 channels, broadband, and OTT.

    Also read : NxtDigital launches 40 NxtHubs across India

    The pandemic also forced the traditional distribution platforms that were facing challenges due to changing consumer preferences, to look at new strategies for growth, and new technology for fresh, and innovative products. This, combined with the realisation that customers increasingly want a single window to manage their multiple products and solutions, led NxtDigital to launch three new offerings including an advanced android set-top box, TV stick, and a combo product providing access to around 700 TV channels, OTT content (including regional) and broadband with speeds up to 1000 Mbps. The company had also introduced a work-from-home bundle during the pandemic.

    “We have been extremely cognisant of the fact that times are changing, and we need to be at the forefront to be able to harness technology to deliver the best experience to customers,” said Fernandes.

    Also read : Nxtdigital launches ‘live’ TV stick and Android STB

    Working with broadcasters and LMO/digital service partners

    Transformation is never an easy process. Like any other change that is met with resistance in the beginning, it took some effort for NxtDigital to convince and train its digital service partners, also the Last Mile Owners (LMOs), to support the implementation of the fully digital payments enabled, pre-paid model.

    And the results have been quite positive. “While individual verticals may have seen some softening, the absolute growth in terms of revenue for the LMOs saw an uptick because of the increased ticket size allowed by the combo product (Broadband + OTT+ Digital TV). Our partners are now, in fact, excited to know about the next digital service they can offer customers,” shared Fernandes.

    As far as broadcaster partners are concerned, he added that even though they have largely been supportive, there’s the need at the top of the pyramid for more patience and the understanding that the industry is still in a state of flux. It will take some time for the metrics to be worked out, and for the results to start manifesting as significant gains. 

    “Though we can’t yet call it significant, there has been steady growth in the business quarter-on-quarter, and this not necessarily from just the video business, but also broadband and OTT. The overall pie has definitely grown, and the stakes are only getting better from here as long as collaborations and innovation come into play,” asserted Fernandes. 

    Also read: I&B ministry lays down guidelines for infrastructure sharing by MSOs

    Appreciating the government’s new guidelines for infrastructure sharing, he remarked, “A DPO can no longer say that it cannot service a client/region because of the high cost of connectivity. As we see a lot more infra sharing happening, broadcasters will also be a beneficiary to that growth.”

    Word of Caution

    As a word of caution, Fernandes pointed out four themes that players need to align themselves with to thrive in the digital future.

    Commenting on the fate of cable and broadband he noted, “Cable will continue to grow, more so with I&B Ministry’s infrastructure sharing guidelines for MSOs announced last December.  However, there will be significant growth in broadband. This has also been indicated by Trai’s recommendation on AGR (adjusted gross revenue) that will encourage cable operators to provide broadband services. The one thing that’s clear is that the government is looking at facilitating the growth of the industry.”

    Fernandes’ third observation was that broadband over satellite and regionalised OTT will start to make inroads over the next couple of years. Lastly, the characteristics of the business will impact single product companies. In the ‘and’ world that awaits, cable or broadband or OTT alone will find it difficult to survive. The future will belong to those who are able to leverage technology to combine them externally and internally into a robust product.

    Fernandes believes that NxtDigital’s product portfolio comprising broadband, HITS, digital cable television, content syndication, and teleshopping will stand the company in good stead. He surmised by saying that “It is necessary to have a product portfolio that can stand the next decade of digital growth.”

    The day-long virtual summit held on 19 January was co-powered by broadpeak. Disney Star was the presenting partner, while NxtDigital was the summit partner.

  • Nxtdigital launches ‘live’ TV stick and Android STB

    Nxtdigital launches ‘live’ TV stick and Android STB

    Mumbai: Nxtdigital has launched Android set-top-box Nxtconnect and ‘live’ TV stick Nxtgo that can give subscribers access to 700 TV channels and 300,000 hours of OTT content with broadband speeds up to 1000 Mbps.

    The company has also launched a combo package for its subscribers in India starting at Rs 409 per month to access content from platforms such as Amazon Prime, Sonyliv, Disney+ Hotstar, Zee5, Voot, Sun Nxt, ShemarooMe, Epic-On, Hungama Music, Hungama Play, Eros Now, aha and hoichoi. OTT services can be accessed on existing devices like mobile phones, tablets, laptops, desktops or smart TVs.

    The Android STB has 8Gb of storage and allows subscribers to upgrade their standard TV sets into smart TVs getting access to a host of Android applications beyond OTT ranging from karaoke to games. For existing smart TV users, Nxtgo can give subscribers access to up to 700 TV channels. Both devices are available at a bundled introductory offer of Rs 1499 which includes a one-month subscription to an OTT package.

    The launch of the combo package, the advanced Android STB and the ‘live’ TV stick reflects our inherent agility in adapting to changing consumer patterns of content consumption and our focus on emerging technologies,” said Nxtdigital managing director and CEO Vynsley Fernandes. “The combo package gives our subscribers a single window to access the best of television, OTT and hi-speed broadband, seamlessly and on-demand.”

    The combo product will also form part of the solutions being offered by its owned-and-operated Nxthubs across the country, launched late last year, providing television and broadband on a plug-and-play model.

  • Nxtdigital’s rights issue subscribed by 194 %, receives Rs 560.13 cr

    Nxtdigital’s rights issue subscribed by 194 %, receives Rs 560.13 cr

    New Delhi: Nxtdigital has announced that the company’s rights issue of equity shares of two shares for every five shares held in the company (aggregating a total of 96,20,463 shares) which closed on 29 November was subscribed 1.94 times.

    The company has reported receiving a total of Rs. 560.13 crores or 194 per cent of the Rights Issue size of Rs. 288.61 crores. This is a clear statement of confidence in the company demonstrated by the shareholders and vindicates the vision of the media group in continuing to transform to an end-to-end digital solutions platform, the company said on Wednesday.

    “The Rights Issue was another positive step taken by the company towards our stated objective of reducing our overall debt,” said Nxtdigital MD and CEO Vynsley Fernandes. “With this, the debt-to-equity ratio is expected to significantly come down to approximately 1.5 times vis-à-vis the pre-issue debt-to-equity ratio of over four times. This is, without doubt, a robust position from which to continue on our path of digital transformation”.

    The company has also been taking steps to liquidate non-core assets and pare its debt thereby.

    According to Nxtdigital’s whole-time director and CFO Amar Chintopanth, the company has already received 25 per cent of the total consideration of Rs 69.30 crores in line with its objectives of paring debt, against the sale of land at Hyderabad. “Considering that the conditions precedent for the sale have been completed within the agreed timelines the company expects the transaction to close before the end of the financial year and the entire proceeds to be realised. Such proceeds would also be utilised towards reducing of the company’s debt”.

    The integrated digital platforms company had recently launched its innovative concept of owned-and-operated NXTHUBs across the country – which besides video and broadband, promise to be future-ready to offer customers a slew of additional digital services including OTT and WiFi.

    The company is also working to operationalise the infrastructure sharing model with other Multi-System Operators (MSOs) on HITS. The model is set to help MSOs not just reduce cost and improve their quality of service, but also facilitate their expansion into markets, especially rural, where connectivity costs are a deterrent to digital proliferation, it added further.

  • HITS combines flexibility of DTH and reliability of cable: NXT Digital CEO Vynsley Fernandes

    HITS combines flexibility of DTH and reliability of cable: NXT Digital CEO Vynsley Fernandes

    Mumbai: Headend-in-the-sky (HITS) combined the flexibility and quality of direct-to-home (DTH) services and the reliability and pricing of cable television, said NXT Digital managing director and chief executive officer Vynsley Fernandes on Wednesday. NXT Digital is the only HITS operator in India and Fernandes is bullish on the prospects of video and broadband aggregation using HITS technology.

    In a conversation with Media Partners Asia co-founder and senior partner Vivek Couto at the Apos India summit on Wednesday, Fernandes spoke about structural developments in the TV distribution ecosystem, pricing parity for consumers, satellite broadband policy and more.

    Cable TV has been around since 1995 and the Hinduja Group introduced HITS to India in 2015. The way HITS technology works is that channels are aggregated at an Earth Station, uplinked to a satellite and instead of being downlinked directly to the customers, like DTH, they are received by cable operators via a refrigerator-sized unit and redistributed to customers, explained Fernandes. HITS allows local cable operators to digitise overnight in remote markets such as Lakshadweep, Andaman and Kargil.

    HITS is a capex light model. Post pandemic, there were last mile owners who wanted to be relevant and grow. The challenge was investing in the back-end and connecting to consumers. Fernandes said, “We already have access to 4400 pin codes and we’ve launched 40 NXT Hubs across the country. These NXT Hubs are owned and operated by us and are future-ready. Any last mile owner within 150 square feet can approach a NXT Hub and offer 650 TV channels and broadband speeds of 100 mbps overnight. It empowers the last mile owner to become a digital services provider. By the end of this financial year (March 2022) we will have 100 such NXT Hubs across the country.”

    “Last year, cyclones hit India and MSO fibre got damaged. They had the option to lay fibre but that would take a couple of months or move to another platform. We thought, what if they used our infrastructure to go digital? So, we approached the ministry and shared this idea. Credit to the ministry of information and broadcasting, literally in a few months by November 2020 it was promulgating infrastructure sharing for HITS with MSOs,” he added.

    Speaking about structural developments in the content distribution ecosystem, Fernandes said, “There are two things happening that are changing the structural makeup of distribution in terms of consumption – NTO 1.0 which is bringing parity and transparency and the pandemic.”

    “Post-pandemic, OTT platforms have realised that they can be more relevant to customers as part of an aggregated offering rather than as a standalone service,” observed Fernandes. “In metros where broadband speeds are 100 mbps and above, in towns and smaller markets, people want the same product but in smaller bundles or what we call ‘skinny bundles’. These customers have broadband speeds of 10mbps and their main consumption is not entertainment but access to e-medicine or e-education.”

    In terms of how much a consumer is willing to pay for content, Vynsley noted, “The actual prices differ widely across the country. There are markets where consumers average revenue per user (ARPU) is under $3, content cost is $2-3. In these markets, there’s not much offtake in terms of paid OTT services, instead consumers access YouTube and other freemium platforms. If you move to cities, the pricing is $300 (Rs 28,000-30,000) for an annual subscription. This is a significant opportunity for multi-system operators for flexi-play.”

    Fernandes is of the view that HITS will increase revenues for the entire ecosystem. “Today, a lot of MSOs look at certain markets as not viable because the cost of connectivity is still significant,” he said. “That’s why infrastructure sharing will benefit MSOs and broadcasters. MSO will share capacity and be able to deliver value to customers and better quality of service, while broadcasters will improve their bottom lines.”

    In Q1, NXT Digital reported five million video subscribers and one million broadband users growing at 7-10 per cent year-on-year. “There is a 30 per cent overlap between our video and broadband user base,” said Fernandes. “That means a quarter of a million customers are consuming both linear/digital products. There is a runway to grow that base to a healthy 50-60 per cent and that’s our target vision for the business. We’ve just launched our OTT product and are looking at bundled ARPUs. Linear TV ARPUs are currently at Rs 300 and OTT delivers higher ARPUs for us. It doesn’t concern me too much which part of revenue delivers but our offering should reach every demographic in the country.”

    During the pandemic, the government couldn’t reach out of several million people who resided in areas where connectivity was patchy. It was prompted to launch e-agriculture and e-medicine services and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has released recommendations on satellite-based connectivity for low bit rate applications. “The government is working on a clear plan and sees the tremendous need for broadband over satellite,” noted Fernandes.

    “Satellite broadband is a clear parallel to HITS which was needed to deliver video in markets that could not be serviced by terrestrial networks,” said Fernandes. “Broadband serves the same void by catering to markets that cannot be serviced by terrestrial fibre. Today, a broadband over satellite provider needs four things – reach and footprint, a company with experience working with satellite, regulatory knowledge and ability to work with industry stakeholders.”

  • Nxtdigital launches 40 new Nxthubs across India

    Nxtdigital launches 40 new Nxthubs across India

    Mumbai: Integrated digital distribution company Nxtdigital Ltd (NDL) has launched 40 Nxthubs across India and unveiled a value-added app for its last-mile owner (LMO) on Thursday.

    Following the launch of its pilot in Ranchi, these Nxthubs were electronically launched at an event in Hyderabad across 13 states including Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Karnataka, amongst others.

    Each Nxthub is owned and operated by NDL and is equipped with the latest technology comprising an ADDS or advanced digital distribution system – to distribute over 650 digital TV services received via satellite to LMOs and their customers. The Nxthub plug-and-play model eliminates the need for LMOs to invest in head-end and related technology. Besides video and broadband, these Nxthubs are future-ready to offer a slew of additional digital services including OTT and WiFi.

    According to the company, each location has been strategically chosen to augment the company’s footprint across the country, which today stands at over 4,400 pin codes, as well as focus on markets where LMO growth is constrained by the ability to invest. For LMOs, this plug-and-play solution facilitates them to go ‘digital’ literally overnight, offering their customers over 650 digital television channels and other digital services including broadband.

    NDL has planned a total of 100 such Nxthubs for this financial year that will further strengthen the NDL footprint across the country.

    “One of the key principles of the Hinduja Group is ‘partnership for growth’. After 2.0 saw the launch of headend-in-the-sky (HITS) to connect LMOs in even the most remote locations through the only satellite-based cable TV platform in India; 3.0 focuses not just on strengthening the overall ecosystem we have built, but harnessing the convergence of technologies – to be delivered through a national network of Nxthubs,” said Nxtdigital Ltd MD and CEO Vynsley Fernandes. “Video and broadband are only the start of the digital highway of services that we have developed for roll-out, backed by a robust suite of innovative apps developed by service providers, exclusively for our LMOs and subscribers.”

    Nxtdigital regional head for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana SY Srikumar said the company is proud that 16 of the 40 Nxthubs are in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana alone. “This national launch from Hyderabad reflects our commitment to LMOs here and the subscribers who expect a high quality of service. We believe this unique model will help stimulate growth and we have already lined up not just new products but also many more Nxthubs across the region,” he added.

    NDL also announced the launch of its new APIs or application programme interfaces for its Nxtdigital HITS service as well as a pre-integrated mobile app solution from ‘Mobiezy’ – under its VAAP program or ‘value-added apps for partners’. These APIs are designed to provide LMOs a way to develop or integrate their own subscriber mobile applications to automate activation/deactivation of subscriber packages directly into NDL’s systems, thereby enhancing the user experience it announced on Thursday.

    “This initiative will empower subscribers to pay online and subscribe to the channels they want to watch and get it activated on their TV sets in real-time without any delay. Without needing to undertake any software development, LMOs can approach Mobiezy for their pre-built and pre-integrated solution that uses Nxtdigital’s new APIs and can be up and running with their own mobile apps within just a few days,” said Nxtdigital group chief technology officer Ru Ediriwira.

    NDL has also been working on an infrastructure sharing model which will help other MSOs reduce operating costs, improve quality of service and extend services to hitherto unviable markets, especially rural; by riding on the HITS platform that covers all of India.

  • NXTDigital revenue up 13.5% in Q1FY22

    NXTDigital revenue up 13.5% in Q1FY22

    Mumbai: NXTDigital Ltd, the media vertical of the global Hinduja Group and an integrated digital distribution platform delivering services through digital cable television, HITS (Headend-In-The-Sky) and broadband, continued to leverage innovation and strategy to combat the challenges of the second wave to post strong results for the quarter ending 30 June.

    On a consolidated basis, the company’s revenues grew by 13.5 per cent in the first quarter of the current financial year 2021-22 to Rs 266.6 crore against revenues of Rs 234.8 crore during the same period in the previous year. The broadband business continued to grow touching 6.7 lakh subscribers which amounts to 93 per cent growth over Q1 FY21.  

    Several contracts in the video and broadband segments of business which got delayed due to the second wave were signed by the company.

    “The Q1 performance exhibits the company’s agility and reflexes – being able to innovate and maintain its momentum through a quarter impacted by the second wave,” said NXTDigital Ltd, MD & CEO, Vynsley Fernandes. “With the situation easing up, we are confident that implementation of our PaaS platform and the roll-out of our 100 NXTHUB project will see traction. Whilst we look to commence our infra sharing model with Siti Networks and then extend it to other MSOs, our 100 NXTHUB launch later this month from Ranchi and then on to other geographies, will continue to keep us well on the growth track.”