Cable TV
9 Indian companies to manufacture STBs; iCAS cost less than $0.5: Govt
NEW DELHI: A total of nine private companies have been identified by India’s Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) for manufacturing indigenous set top boxes equipped with Indian Conditional Access System (iCAS).
However, the government department could not give a time-frame as to when indigenously-manufactured STBs would be ready to address the growing demands for boxes as digital rollout inches towards the finishing line.
Sources in DeitY said STBs with iCAS is a techno-commercial decision of the operators, but indicated it could coincide with the Phase IV deadline of Digital Addressable System in December this year.
In the third and fourth phase of ongoing digitisation of TV services in India, industry experts estimate need for approximately 70-80 million boxes.
DeitY, till recently part of the Communications Ministry but since then sliced away under the charge of minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, had been set up to promote e-Governance for empowering citizens, promoting inclusive and sustainable growth of the electronics, IT & ITeS industries, enhancing India’s role in Internet governance, promoting R&D and innovation and ensuring a secure cyber space.
The companies identified so far for manufacturing iCAS STBs and with whom ByDesign India Pvt. Ltd. of Bangalore had signed Memorandums of Understanding included New Delhi-based Melbon-Millenium Technologies, Solid-KMTS Engineering Pvt. Ltd, MyBox Technologies Pvt. Ltd and C-Net Communications India Pvt. Ltd.
The Bangalore-based companies include Smasher Communications Pvt. Ltd and Velankani Electronics Pvt. Ltd, while the others are Exza Info system from Pune, ABS Productions Pvt. Ltd. of Mumbai and Aurangabad-based Videocon.
ByDesign India Pvt. Ltd. had been shortlisted after a tendering process for the development and implementation of iCAS in association with a government organisation, Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC).
The development stage of iCAS had been successfully completed as on November 14, 2015.
As per the agreement with STB manufacturers, ByDesign will make available the developed iCAS to all domestic manufacturers or to the operators at not more than $ 0.5/license (including smart card, if required) for a period of three years.
Government sources indicated more than 25,000 STBs with iCAS have already been deployed across the country between December 2015 and January 2016.
DeitY has recently informed a parliamentary committee on information technology that during five months till March 2016, iCAS was presented in various national and regional level conferences/forums. The product received encouraging response both from cable and DTH operators.
iCAS had been test deployed by 13 operators by March-end at Sandur, Challekere and Ranebennur in Karanataka; Chalisgaon and Wai in Maharashtra; Yeraguntala and Tadapatri in Andhra Pradesh; Madurai in Tamil Nadu; Durgapur in West Bengal; Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh; Neemuch in Madhya Pradesh; Bikaner in Rajasthan
and Haldwani in Uttarakhand.
The Department said operators in these towns had confirmed successful deployment of iCAS.
The installation of the system is in progress at seven more operator locations of Nevada in Bihar; Narayanpur and Leilunga in Chhattisgarh; Ganjam and Bhingarpur in Odisha; Pachora and Daund in Maharashtra.
Cable TV
Hathway Cable appoints Gurjeev Singh Kapoor as CEO
Leadership change comes as cable TV faces shrinking subscriber base and modest earnings pressure
MUMBAI: Hathway Cable and Datacom has tapped industry veteran Gurjeev Singh Kapoor as chief executive officer, marking a leadership pivot at a time when India’s cable television business is under mounting strain.
Kapoor will take over from Tavinderjit Singh Panesar, who is set to retire in August after a long innings with the company. Panesar, chief executive since 2023, has held multiple leadership roles at Hathway, including his latest stint beginning in 2022.
Kapoor brings more than three decades of experience in media and entertainment. He most recently led distribution at The Walt Disney Company’s Star India business, now part of JioStar. His career spans television distribution and affiliate partnerships, with stints at Sony Pictures Networks India, Discovery Communications and Zee Entertainment.
Panesar, with over three decades in the industry, has worked across strategic planning, distribution and business development in media, broadcasting and manufacturing. His past associations include ESPN Star Sports, Star India, Apollo Tyres and JK Industries.
The transition lands as the cable sector grapples with structural disruption. Traditional operators are losing ground to streaming platforms, while telecom and broadband players tighten the squeeze with bundled offerings.
An EY report estimates India’s pay-TV base could shrink by a further 30 to 40 million households by 2030, taking the total down to 71 to 81 million. The slide follows a loss of nearly 40 million homes between 2018 and 2024, a contraction that has already wiped out more than 37,000 jobs in the local cable operator ecosystem.
Hathway’s numbers reflect the strain. The company reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 93 crore for FY25, down from Rs 99 crore a year earlier. Revenue inched up to Rs 2,040 crore from Rs 1,981 crore. As of December 2025, it had about 4.7 million cable TV subscribers and roughly 1.02 million broadband users.
Kapoor steps in with a familiar brief but a shrinking playbook. In a market where viewers are cutting cords faster than companies can reinvent them, the new chief executive inherits a business fighting to stay plugged in.
