All Entries Tagged With: "WWIL"
SITI Cable Business partners geared up for digitization
SITI Cable organized business partners meets to set the pace of cable TV digitization, with the Government recently passing the Cable Television Networks (Regulation) Amendment Bill requiring the four metros Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai to shift to digital cable by June 2012 and the rest of the country to be digitized in phased wise manner by December 2014. With this bill, the onus shifts now on cable service providers to gear up for shifting to digital cable TV infrastructure from analogue. To speed up this transition, SITI cable organized the series of meets for Delhi Cable Operator in »»»
FDI in cable: Industry needs Rs 25k-30kcr funds, says WWIL
With digitisation being made mandatory in the cable industry and deadlines being announced, players hope is that the current 49% which is allowed in the industry would get filled up even if 74% doesn’t come immediately. According to Avnindra Mohan, president – legal & regulatory affairs, Essel Group hiking the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit from 49% to 74% in the cable distribution platform is a welcome step. However, Mohan feels that digitisation involves huge capital outlay. In an interview to CNBC-TV18 Mohan said that the total funding required for the industry as a whole »»»
Raising FDI in Media would attract foreign investors: WWIL
Sudhir Agarwal, CEO , WWIL, in an interview with ET Now talks about company’s overall condition and prospect. Excerpts: ET Now: This is a good news for the industry as a whole, FDI in DTH being raised from 49% to 74%, give us a sense of what kind of an impact this could potentially have on WWIL? Sudhir Agarwal: It is a very good and encouraging initiative from the government to raise the current FDI limit across platforms in our industry from 49% to 74% across DTH, IPTV, MSO platforms. As you would know, government recently announced an initiative to digitise the whole country and they came »»»
Apex court orders new tariff formula for DTH operators
In a move that will ensure that the cost of cable channels will continue to remain affordable for consumers even after shifting from analogue to digital services, the Supreme Court last week ordered a new tariff formula for all digital addressable platforms. The apex court has fixed 42 per cent of non-CAS tariffs as the new benchmark for all future commercial agreements between broadcasters, direct-to-home (DTH) firms and MSOs offering digital cable services. This formula will now replace the earlier tariff orders (35 per cent by Trai in July 2010 and 50 per cent by TDSAT in July 2006). Simply »»»
WWIL eyes Rs 3.4 bn revenue in FY’11
MUMBAI: Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd is targeting a revenue of Rs 3.4 billion and expects to be Ebitda positive for the full-fiscal, a source close to the company said. Fuelling this over 20 growth will be the MSO’s entry into new markets, a projected rise in carriage revenue and growth in subscription income. WWIL is setting up a joint venture company, Siti Vision, with a group of people who have strong ground control to revive its presence in Hyderabad. “WWIL will hold 51 per cent stake. The content has been tied up with the broadcasters and the cable TV service will launch in September. »»»
HITS finds no takers as MSOs await transponders and comprehensive policy
MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: On 31 March, Wire and Wireless (India) Ltd. ended its only Headend-In-The-Sky (HITS) service in the country after making no impact on the market, sinking in losses of over Rs 1 billion. Four months later, the scenario is no different and the technology that would have put digitisation on the fast track stands unused. Several multi-system operators (MSOs) have applied for a HITS licence but are not particularly enthused as they await a more comprehensive policy. “We want the government to allow the DTH signals to be used for HITS. This would save the sector from duplication of »»»
Strong profit visibility
The Rs 21,000-crore cable and satellite sector is likely to improve profitability on the back of higher subscriber base, lower costs and improving average revenue per user. The consolidation activity and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (Trai’s) recently-proposed norms on foreign direct investment in the cable and satellite sector could hasten corporatisation and make operations of service providers more profitable. The sector, which is currently dominated by the over 50,000 local cable operators, suffers revenue leakage due to under-reporting of subscriber numbers by operators. The »»»
