Cable TV
Broadband seminar in Delhi on Thursday
NEW DELHI: With the government committed to support a broadband thrust and a state area-wide network for data transmission reaching out to the interior, telecom services are poised for a big thrust in different areas like distance education, tele-medicine, e-governance, entertainment and employment generation.
The target set is three million broadband subscribers in the new year, of which two million would be through franchisees of the state-controlled telecom companies, BSNL/MTNL.
The public sector telecom service companies have already advertised for tenders for franchising their broadband services over their existing copper networks using DSL technology. The response has been good and the new year should see launch of these services over a wide swath of the country.
In the private sector Reliance already had announced they would have dedicated broadband services for business. They are planning connectivity to major urban buildings.
With vast business opportunities lying in the broadband sector, which, of course, still experiences technical and financial problems, a seminar on broadband, `Broadband Tech India 2004, is scheduled to open here tomorrow.
Organised by Bharat Exhibitions, the seminar would provide an in-depth examination of broadband technology developments, deployments, challenges, services, and applications with particular relevance to the Indian market. The focus will be on analyzing the business case and real-world experiences of leading service providers.
Dayanidhi Maran, minister for communications & IT will inaugurate the conference, while Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairman Pradip Baijal will be the guest of honour at the conference.
Some of the key speakers include Arun Kumar Saxena, member (services), department of telecom, SD Saxena, director (finance) of BSNL, PK Garg, wireless advisor, Wireless Planning & Coordination in the communication ministry, Arpita Pal Agrawal, senior manager of Pricewaterhouse Coopers, K Krishna, senior director (marketing) of Hughes Escorts Communications Ltd, Prasad Babu, SE manager,India & SAARC from Juniper Networks and Sujata Dev, director impact & content advisor of Shaf Broadcast Pvt. Ltd.
Zee Business news channel is a broadcast partner.
Headed by Shashi Dharan, Bharat Exhibitions organizes internationally recognized exhibitions and conferences in the areas of broadcast and multimedia, satellite & space technologies, telecommunications, computing & networking and banking technologies
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.
