Cable TV
150 MSOs get 10 year licence under DAS; 27 denied permission
NEW DELHI: Another 11 multi-system operators (MSOs) all over the country have been granted permanent registration for 10 years to operate the digital addressable system (DAS) during the last two months, thus bringing the total to 153 as compared to 142 by December-end.
Most of these MSOs had been given provisional permission earlier.
The MSOs who have received permission as on 5 March after the last list released of 7 January are:
– Cossco Communications Limited of Shyamnagar for West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Sikkim, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura under Phase – I, II, III & IV;
– Netset Media Services of Jamnagar for the state of Gujarat; Satlinks of Pallakad for the state of Kerala;
– Vishwam Cable Network of Porbandar and Suraj Cable Network of Rajkot for Phase II, III and IV in Gujarat;
– Kaizen Digital Services for Karnataka in Phase – II, III and IV except Mysore city;
– Utkal Cable Vision of Orissa for the third and fourth phases pan India;
– SS Cable Network of Balaghat for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra,Odhisha & Jharkhand under Phase – I,II,III & IV;
– Chelikam Networks of Tirupati for Phase III & Phase IV of Chittur, Kadapa, Ananthpur and Nellore Districts of Andhra Pradesh;
– DDC CATV Network of Delhi for pan India in all phases; and
– Mohit Sai Cable Network of Vizayanagram for Vishakapatanam, Vizayanagaram and Srikakulam District in III and IV phase in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
The list of MSOs, who have been refused permission as on 28 February, has gone up to 27 from 26 with one more MSO being denied permission. Some of those in the cancelled list applied as early as March 2013.
MSO sources, however, said that the approved list was in addition to the 140 whose names had been approved earlier in March last year.
The Ministry website mib.nic.in has listed the areas and the date from which the MSOs have been given permission.
MUMBAI: When margins wobble, liquidity talks and in Q3 FY25-26, cash did most of the talking. Den Networks Limited closed the December quarter with consolidated revenue of Rs.251 crore, marginally higher than the previous quarter but down 4 per cent year-on-year, even as profitability stayed resilient on the back of strong cash reserves and disciplined cost control.
Subscription income softened to Rs.98 crore, slipping 3 per cent sequentially and 14 per cent from last year, while placement and marketing income offered some cheer, rising 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to Rs.148 crore. Total costs climbed faster than revenue, up 7 per cent QoQ to Rs.238 crore, driven largely by higher content costs and operating expenses. As a result, EBITDA dropped sharply to Rs.13 crore from Rs.19 crore in Q2 and Rs.28 crore a year ago, pulling margins down to 5 per cent.
Yet, the bottom line refused to blink. Profit after tax stood at Rs.40 crore, up 15 per cent sequentially and only marginally lower than last year’s Rs.42 crore. A healthy Rs.57 crore in other income helped cushion operating pressure, keeping profit before tax at Rs.48 crore, broadly stable quarter-on-quarter despite the tougher cost environment.
The real headline-grabber, however, sits on the balance sheet. The company remains debt-free, with cash and cash equivalents swelling to Rs.3,279 crore as of December 31, 2025. Net worth rose to Rs.3,748 crore, while online collections accounted for 97 per cent of total receipts, underscoring strong cash discipline across operations, including subsidiaries.
In short, while Q3 showed signs of operating strain, the financial backbone remains solid. With zero gross debt, steady profits and a formidable cash war chest, the company enters the next quarter with flexibility firmly on its side proving that in uncertain markets, balance sheet strength can be the best growth strategy.
