Cable TV
Hathway looks to operate from three headends in Mumbai in the long term
Broadband may be a while coming to Indian shores but the big MSOs are all readying the backend for it. Rajan Raheja-promoted Hathway Cable & Datacom, which recently moved its main operational centre to a state-of-the-art headend in the central Mumbai suburb of Parel, plans to consolidate all its headends into three main ones over the next two years.
Hathway earlier had 14 headends controlling operations, mainly in south Mumbai and along the western suburbs. With the Parel headend going onstream, two control rooms in Worli and Mahim have been disbanded, Praveen Shrikande, CTO, Hathway says. According to Shrikande, the whole process will take two to three years.
Due to the geographical layout of Mumbai (it is a linear city), it is not possible for Hathway go the way of Bangalore, where it has consolidated with a fiber optic backbone into one headend. Earlier Bangalore had five headends.
The headend is the data centre for all Internet operations in Mumbai for Hathway. All points are hooked up from here through five CMTSs (cable modem termination system). Depending on the scheme under which a client has joined up, Hathway offers 64-512 kbps bandwidth Navroz P Behramfram, head – technical support, says. Hathway supplies modems as per client requirements but all models are DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Services Interface Specifications) compatible, Behramfram says.
Explaining the operational set-up, Behramfram says satellite signals (for their 92 channel feed) are captured through nine dishes using L band or intermediate frequency (IF) distribution to receiver / decoders. Each decoder transmits a single channel AV and each channel is modulated and then mixed using the principle of frequency domain multiplexing. The objective here is to combine all the individual channel feeds. At the end of it all, a single optic fiber cable carries the feed out from the headend.
Behramfram says the system that has been set up is structured in such a way that it is easy to trace which signal is going where and therefore in case of any problems, pinpointing the source is not difficult.
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.
