Major MSOs in India represent 52.33 million subscribers

Monday, July 22nd, 2019
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India logo

NEW DELHI — The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has today released its recommendations on “Entry level Net-worth requirement of Multi System Operators (MSOs) in Cable TV Services”. A Multi System Operator (MSO) is an authorized service provider, providing cable TV services to its subscribers. The Rule 11(3) of Cable Television Network Rules, 1994 prescribes the criteria of the applicant for grant of MSO registration.

After careful consideration the Authority has recommended that,’ … there is no necessity for fixation of a minimum entry level net worth for MSO registration. As at present, any individual, company, Corporate firm or LLP that fulfils provisions of the Cable TV Rules may be granted MSO registration.

The full text of the recommendations includes an analysis of the pay TV market in India.

The eco-system of Distribution Platform Owners with Direct-To-Home (DTH) players, HITS Operators, IPTV Players and MSOs is quite exhaustive. Different players are operating across the country making the choice of TV service provider available to the consumers. The present active subscriber base of major DPOs and the areas of their presence is as per table below:

Table 1. Number of Subscribers of Major MSOs as on 1st April 2019

S. No. Name of DPO Active Subscriber Base (mn) State-wise Area of Operation
1 Siti Networks Ltd 11.13 Punjab, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana & Bihar
2 Den Networks Limited 7.03 Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttarakhand, DELHI-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana & Bihar
3 Hathway Digital Pvt. Ltd 6.69 Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal & Telangana
4 GTPL Hathway 5.25 Rajasthan, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal & Assam
5 IMCL 4.54 Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka & Andhra Pradesh
6 Fastway 4.01 Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand & Chandigarh
7 ARASU(TACTV) 3.22 Tamil Nadu
8 KCCL 2.13 Kerala
9 TCCL 1.59 Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh & Pondicherry
10 Asia Net 1.45 Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
11 e-Digital 1.25 Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh
12 KAL Cables 1.2 Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh & Pondicherry
13 VK Digital 1.1 Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka & Pondicherry
14 UCN 1 Maharashtra & Madhya Pradesh
15 Act Digital 0.74 Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh & Telangana
Total 52.33

Table 2. – DTH Operators – Subscribers as on 1st April 2019 (Pan India)

S. No. Name of DPO Active Subscriber Base (mn)
1 Dish D2H 16.6
2 Airtel 12.1
3 SUN Direct 6.7
4 Independent TV 1.34
5 Tata Sky Limited 14.35
Total 51.09