Cable TV
Germany’s Panaccess bets big on CAS in India
KOLKATA: Panaccess, a German-headquartered company for CAS, SMS, billing and VoD, aims to promote CAS in India. The company is not only betting on business from the remaining phases i.e. III and IV, but is also approaching the multi-system operators (MSOs) in phase I and II.
“There is good scope for CAS, SMS and billing in the next phases. And a few existing clients want to replace with our CAS and hence, we are approaching the MSOs in phase I and II along with newer ones,” informs Panaccess sales consultant GK Viswanath.
“We have commissioned our conditional access system, subscriber management system and billing for a MSO in Pondicherry,” he answers, when asked about the work executed in the country.
The company, which is slated to open a service centre in Bengaluru by April 2015, has already established its products and services in 32 countries across the world. It serves as a single window for a set of secured and revenue protected suite of solutions that complements and adds revenue streams to existing and new cable TV and DTH operations.
After April, the company will start visiting all the major MSOs and plans to advertise a lot more as well. “We participate in all the major cable TV exhibitions etc,” he states.
On the problems MSOs face with existing CAS system, he says, “They can resolve the problems by replacing with our CAS i.e. SMS and billing which are built in. Hence, there is no need for MSOs to go any anywhere else for these facilities. Apart from this, we also provide with solutions through broadband services.”
In the coming months, the company, which currently employees around 15 people in the country, plans to recruit a few more. “Next fiscal will see at least 10 for sales and 15 for technical and five for backend and five demonstrator appointments,” he says.
On the extended deadline of cable TV digitisation in India from 2014 to 2016, he comments, “There are some people who had already started manufacturing STBs indigenously; they are the ones which have been affected by this decision.”
“We can coordinate with the MSOs those who are planning to go for headends or STBs. We hope to capitalise the market early,” he concludes.
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.
