70% of consumers have chosen DPO packs in new pricing regime: Hathway

Cable TV and broadband service provider Hathway Cable & Datacom Pvt Ltd (HCDPL) has said that there is high acceptability for packages prepared by distribution platform operators (DPOs) among consumers. It is Q3 presentation, the company has stated that 70% of consumers have chosen DPO packs in the new pricing regime.

Hathway said that the October-December quarter was focussed on aligning all stakeholders on new tariff order (NTO). The NTO mandates the broadcasters to declare MRP of individual channels besides the bouquet rates. Consumers have the liberty to chose channels on a la carte basis or create their own bouquets. The DPOs can also create their own bouquets depending upon the consumer needs.

HCDPL has created packages for different markets like Maharashtra, Karnataka, Odisha, Sikkim, West Bengal, and Hindi speaking markets. The company said that the packaging is based on extensive consumer research and focussed group interviews with consumers.

Hathway said it has implemented self-care/Mobile App/Hathway Connect to facilitate subscribers to select packages/channels. The company also said it has developed IT capabilities to migrate all subscribers on New Tariff plans without any disruption.

It has made a substantial investment in technology to increase transaction handling capacity by four times.

The company further stated it has created best in class consumer app/portal launched for online consumer request on channel/packages selection and payments request. An LCO app has been created for online consumer request on channel/packages selection and payments/request.

It also said that the DPO packs have created a win-win proposition for LCOs. The LCO partners, Hathway said, can earn Rs 100+ tax on select DPO packs.

Hathway Digital Pvt Ltd (HDPL), the cable TV arm of HCDPL, has seen a 3% decline in EBITDA on a sequential basis to Rs 36.1 crore from Rs 37.1 crore.

Income increased 2% to Rs 267.8 crore even as subscription saw a flat growth while placement revenue increased 4%. Total expenses increased 3% to Rs 231.7 crore. Pay channel cost was up 3% to Rs 160.7 crore.

The company said that the Q3-FY19 collection efficiency is at 99% despite ground challenges in low market share areas. ARPUs in different Phases are: Phase I Rs 110/-, Phase II Rs 105/-, Phase III Rs 80/-, and Phase IV Rs 62/-.

The total cable TV universe stayed at 7.2 million of which 298,000 were high definition (HD) subscribers. Hathway will launch its first Cable Hybrid Box on Google Android TV(O) platform on 1st March.

HCDPL’s standalone results comprising of the broadband business returned to the black with a net profit of Rs 6.5 crore as against a net loss of Rs 5.9 crore in the trailing quarter. Operating EBITDA declined 5% QoQ to Rs 51.3 crore compared to Rs 53.8 crore.

Broadband subscription income increased 3% to Rs 134.9 crore from Rs 130.6 crore. Total expenditure was up 9% at Rs 83.6 crore from Rs 76.8 crore.

The company added 15,000 Home Passes during the quarter taking the total Home Pass to 5.54 million. It added 15,000 subscribers QoQ basis taking the total subscriber base to 780,000. ARPU declined to Rs 662 from Rs 672 a quarter ago. The new customer ARPU is slightly higher at Rs 700 excluding taxes.

The bandwidth consumption per consumer increased to 0.75 Mbps in December 2018 from 0.72 Mbps in November. The bandwidth increase per customer is healthy from long term wireline industry relevance perspective, the company stated.

During the quarter, Hathway Play box based on Android platform was launched for only broadband customers in Chennai markets on 15th January. It will provide world-class large screen OTT viewing experience to Hathway broadband customers. According to the company, the initial response has been very encouraging with 25% customers paying for leading OTT services through Hathway Platform.

HCDPL also launched chatbot based self-service platform. The number of customers paying online has increased to 73% as compared to 65% nine months back.

The company made a substantial investment in reducing customer complaint TAT and overall level of complaints leading to many markets reaching the level of 1 complaint/consumer/year.

GPON FTTH Parallel network is being deployed in high-potential high-penetrated DOCSIS home passes with an eye to increase market share by offering 200-500 Mbps speed to premium consumers.

The company said it is levying a minimum entry fee of Rs 999 to make sure only serious consumers are acquired leading to much higher acquisition quality and significantly lower churn.

It also noted that the effects of low data usage consumers moving to mobility is tapering off. This sets the momentum for 30,000 quarterly net additions from Q4 onwards.

Focus increased on customer delight with a 40% increase in bandwidth/consumer over the last 9 months with substantial addition in Q3-FY19. The national average on monthly data consumption is 113 GB/consumer/month.

Chennai being a pure FTTH market, data consumption average is 167 GB/consumer/month which is very close to developed markets average of 200 GB/month. Nationally 50% consumers are above 80 GB/month data consumption.