Cable TV
Reliance eyes last mile via cable ops
MUMBAI: Reliance Infocomm has indicated to cable TV operators that it wants to ally with them to deliver digital interactive television and value-added broadband services to customer homes.
The launch date of Netway – Reliance’s triple play service – is still not definite, though the company is targeting mid-2005. “We have certain issues to sort out,” Reliance Infocomm chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani tells indiantelevision.com.
Reliance Infocomm is still grappling with the last mile problem. But the company seems to be befriending local cable operators. By putting up a stall at SCaT India 2004, which is an annual exhibition on cable TV hardware, Reliance may well have been sending out these very signals to the operators. Also, Ambani was present today to inaugurate the three-day exhibition.
“We are showing cable operators the products that we can offer. This is the first step,” says Reliance Infocomm president of Enterprise Prakash C Bajpai.
There is no decision taken yet whether Reliance should go through the local operators. “If we go through cable operators, it will be a faster route. Getting to the last mile ourselves will take time,” says Bajpai. “We are, however, weighing the various models,” he clarifies. This could also mean a mix of working with local operators and having its own last mile.
A Delhi cable operator, however, feels Reliance is not out to kill the last mile operators. “We have been given assurances that they will work with us and we can earn incremental revenues through their value-added services,” says head of Cable Operators Federation of India Roop Sharma.
On the content front, Reliance Infocomm is yet to finalise on what business model it should adopt. The debate is on whether the company should acquire movies or go for a revenue-share model with the content suppliers.
Reliance will take time to launch its triple play service. But when it does, the battle will hot up. “Multi system operators have to gear up as they are the likely targets,” says the founder-promoter of an independent cable network.
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.
