Dishtv Scores 10 million mark in subscriber base

India’s Dishtv becomes the first DTH company in Asia to cross 10 million mark in subscriber base.

Dishtv, owned by media tycoon Subhash Chandra Goyal of ZEE TV, has achieved a major milestone in its 8-year nascent history as it becomes the first DTH operator in Asia to cross 10 million mark (1 crore) in subscriber base. The largest DTH operator in the country, which is firing on all cylinders amidst intensifying competition from rivals, notably, Tata Sky, Airtel Digital TV and Reliance Digital TV, in order to maintain its leadership and also grow the viewership pie, has added over 1 million subscriber in less than three months, the company said in a communiqué.

Dishtv became first DTH player to start operation in India in 2003. It currently enjoys a market share of over 32%. “Achieving landmark figures of 10 million restate our subscriber trust in our brand and this has only encouraged us further to work on innovations and serve our customers with something unique always,” said Jawahar Goel, Managing Director, Dishtv India. The company expects to add 3.5 million subscribers in the ongoing fiscal year 2010-11.

“Being the first DTH company in Asia to break the 10 million barrier, we now look forward to exit the current fiscal with a stronger subscriber addition and achieve our guided acquisition target while aiming profitability in the months to come," said R.C Venkateish, CEO, Dishtv India.

According to estimates, India currently has a DTH subscriber base of about 28-30 million (with about 1-lakh subscribers joining every month), which is expected to swell to 45 million by 2014 and further 58 million by 2020, a study by research firm, Media Partners Asia (MPA) forecasts. The report expects total pay-TV subscription revenues in the country to reach $12 billion by 2020, growing at an average annual rate of 10%.

Image courtesy: www.dishtv.in

Amy, Chief Editor

RIL-BP deal: Betting Big

BP, the world’s fourth largest oil company, has signed a historic deal with India’s Reliance Industries to pursue joint exploration opportunities in the latter’s 23 oil and gas blocks including its trophy asset KG D6 block.

“I believe our future is in deepwater exploration, and I'm very positive about the east coast of India. BP is the best in deepwater exploration. If you want to climb Mount Everest, you must have the best team.”

- Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, on tie-up with BP

The contents of the above quote tell it loud and clear: Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of India’s largest private sector player and one of the world’s top petrochemical companies, is aiming big, as ever, but what is different this time around is that he will be aiming to make it big not alone but in the company of another biggie, British Petroleum or BP, the global oil giant. 

The two companies have just announced a historic partnership wherein the London-headquartered BP will acquire a 30% per cent stake in RIL’s 23 oil and gas blocks including its trophy asset KG D6 block besides forming a 50:50 joint venture for sourcing and marketing of gas in India. Valued at $7.2bn, it is being touted as India’s largest FDI deal so far. And if every thing goes as per plan, RIL will be receiving a total of $20bn from BP that includes future performance payments of up to $1.8bn as well as combined investment over a period of time. “This partnership combines the skills of both companies and will be focused on finding more hydrocarbons in the deep water blocks of India and significantly contribute to India’s energy security,” Ambani told. 

A win-win deal

The deal is a win-win proposition as the two companies bring complementary skills to the table. While Reliance brings with it its outstanding project management track record and operations expertise, in BP it finds a partner that is counted among one of the finest deep water exploration companies in the world. In other words, BP’s expertise in deep water technology would come handy to the Indian oil major; the output at RIL’s D6 field, owing to some technical issues, has reportedly fallen, , from a peak of 60 million standard cubic meters a day (mmscmd) a year ago to 50.97 mmscmd (1.8 billion cubic feet per day). Also, the deal would help RIL pursue its foray into the promising LNG segment.

The deal, which is BP’s largest ever investment in any single basin anywhere in the world and is also the largest ever FDI in India, marks BP’s shift in focus towards emerging economies, notably BRIC, away from the traditional western markets where it faces growing scrutiny over oil spill, maturing reserves, and dwindling profits. Last month, it entered into a $16bn share-swap deal with Russia’s state-owned oil company Rosneft to jointly pursue exploration opportunities in three Arctic offshore blocks said to be containing some 60 billion barrels of oil and gas.

The latest deal which is being projected as a ‘Transformational Partnership’ fits perfectly into the CEO Bob Dudley’s scheme of things as he looks to forge alliances in emerging economies with rich haul of natural resources.  

As per the terms of the deal, RIL will continue to be the operator under the production sharing contracts, whose blocks lie in water depths ranging from 400 to over 3,000 meters. These currently produce about 1.8 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcf/d), over 30 per cent of India’s total consumption, and over 40 per cent of India’s total production. According to BP’s Energy Outlook 2030, energy consumption in India is forecast to more than double over the next 20 years, growing at a rate of over 4% per annum while it predicts the demand for gas to grow at nearly 5% a year between 2010 and 2030.  

The aggregate gross profits attributable to BP’s 30 per cent share of the 23 production sharing contracts to be acquired is Rs. 1336 crore ($300mn), as derived from the aggregate EBIT under the production sharing contracts for the financial year ending 31 March 2010, a company estimate suggests.

However, the deal is subject to approval from the government and the regulators. And as the Cairn-Vedanta deal, which is currently facing regulatory hurdles, underlines, never undermine political risks.

(image courtesy: BP)

Amy, Chief Editor

5 Steps to Mobile Number Portability (MNP)

 

With Mobile Number Portability (MNP) becoming a boon for millions of cellular users, who having vexed with their existing operators, were waiting to swap to their preferred operator. We list you the simple procedures you need to follow for MNP:

Step 1: Just SMS this simple message [PORT_ (your mobile number)]* to 1900.

Step 2: You will receive a Unique Porting Code from your current service provider

Step 3: Now, just walk-in to your nearest mobile operator office of your choice and fill in your details in a prescribed application form, do not forget to furnish your UPC along with the application form.

Step 4: The new service operator will charge you Rs. 19/-, as authorized by TRAI (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India)

Step 5: You will be given a new SIM by your new mobile operator, which you should insert in your mobile phone once you receive a SMS confirmation on your old service provider, within seven working days.

Note: The Post-paid customers must ensure that they have cleared their last payment, while for pre-paid subscribers, no amount will be carry-forwarded.

So, follow these simple steps and enjoy Mobile Number Portability.

* Don’t include []() while sending request for 1900.

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Airtel’s African Safari

When Bharti Airtel, India’s largest mobile phone operator and fifth largest in the world, made two failed attempts for two consecutive years, first in 2008 and then again in 2009, to acquire MTN, Africa’s top carrier, it made skeptics wonder why the heck Indian operator chased this deal in first place? Many felt that the company was simply becoming a laughing stuff when it rebid in 2009 and failed again to woo the African telco. But barely a year later Airtel has critics eat humble pie.

The company today is among the leading operator in two Asian markets viz., Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. And it is locked in a fierce battle with Vodafone and others for market supremacy in Kenya, one of the lucrative markets in Africa. Bharti Airtel which acquired Zain Group’s Kenyan operations last year fired its first salvo by indulging in a tariff war, which took market leader Safaricom by surprise; Safarocom enjoys a market share of 78% in Kenya while Bharti-Zain, the second largest player has just 10% market share. And if industry experts are to be believed if the interconnection fees are further lowered by the government, it could only intensify the battle between the two giants, which could see other smaller rivals getting sidelined. 

However, this fight between the two biggies may become fiercer in the days to come; but at the same time, it will bring good news for customers who can now look forward to cheaper calls and SMS in Kenya. Given Airtel’s deep pockets and technological prowess, it won’t be surprising to see the company flexing its muscles further to snatch away market share from the market leader.

(To be continued…..)

Look for more news from African safari in our next article.

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Starbucks in India: Get, Set, Sip!

Starbucks, the iconic coffee brand of America, is all set to storm Indian market soon.

THERE is great news for all those coffee lovers in India as soon they would be able to sip a cuppa of their favorite Iced Caffè Mocha or Caramel Frappuccino® Blended Coffee, everyday! This is no daydreaming; it is indeed going to be a reality as the iconic coffee brand, which revolutionized coffee-drinking in America, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tata Coffee, for sourcing and roasting high-quality green coffee beans in Tata Coffee’s Coorg, India facility. Besides, the alliance will also set up Starbucks retail stores in Tata Group’s retail outlets as well as luxury hotels.

Headquartered in the United States, in Seattle, Washington, Starbucks manages over 16,000 stores and operates in more than 50 countries. Starbucks sells a wide variety of coffee and tea products with a range of complementary food items, primarily through retail stores. Tata Coffee is the world’s largest integrated coffee plantation company and owns key brands such as Mysore Gold instance coffee, Mr. Bean and Coorg Pure and also owns Eight O’ Clock Coffee Company in the US.

Surprisingly, India is the major market which remains untapped for the coffee giant, which is scouting for growth outside its home market, i.e., the US, where it is experiencing stagnating growth. Starbucks which operates in 50 countries is already present in B, R, C of BRIC nations. Hence the passage to India was long over due. But the country’s stringent FDI laws related to its retailing industry caps foreign direct investor’s stake at 51% in single-brand retail format and which might have acted as a deterrent to the coffee retailer’s India entry plan.

Nonetheless, explaining his vision for Indian market, Howard Schultz, Chairman, President and CEO, Starbucks Coffee Company, quipped, “India is one of the most dynamic markets in the world with a diverse culture and tremendous potential.” He further added, “This MoU is the first step in our entry to India. We are focused on exploring local sourcing and roasting opportunities with the thousands of coffee farmers within the Tata ecosystem. We believe India can be an important source for coffee in the domestic market, as well as across the many regions globally where Starbucks has operations.”

What could work in favor of the alliance is the fact that both Tata Coffee and Starbucks have known each other for long as the former has supplied premium coffee beans to the US partner Starbucks in the past. The alliance partners are expected to open their first outlet within six months. “We welcome Starbucks entry into India because of both its unique experience with the store format and for its commitment to society, values that we share,” said R K Krishna Kumar, Chairman of Tata Coffee.

Though late to enter the fast growing Indian market, the world’s leading coffee retailer is optimistic that India would soon catch up with China. India is “as large an opportunity as there exists in the world, coupled with China,” the Financial Times quoted Schultz as saying. Coffee consumption in India though has lagged behind tea, which remains the favorite hot drink of a majority of the people, is slowing growing up. In fact, according to the data from Coffee Board of India, the domestic consumption almost doubled from 50,000 metric tones in 1998 to 94,400 metric tones by 2008, the latest date for which the data is available.

So get ready to wake wp with a sip from your favourite Starbucks Coffee.

Mobile Number Portability: Coming Soon

Come January 20 and get ready to hop, jump and skip your mobile operator in case you’re not happy with the present one. Welcome to the world of MNP or Mobile Number Portability.

While the service was already launched on November 25^th at Rohtak, Haryana, the pan-India roll out was delayed by nearly two months to allow all operators enough time to migrate smoothly to the MNP environment.

MNP allows a subscriber to change his/her operator without any hassles. Though you’ll need to shell out one-time fee of Rs. 19 to your new operator and there is a lock-in period of 3 months as well, the latter means you can hop to another operator but not before completing three months with the present one. Simply put, it gives you total freedom of selecting the operator of your choice in case you’re unhappy with the services of your current operator. So, what is the big deal, you may ask. Even now, without MNP also, you can change your operator by simply buying a SIM from the operator of your choice.

The answer is: you don’t need to change your mobile number every time you change operator or switch to your mobile network in an MNP regime. And that is the biggest deal, indeed. Also, technology interoperability issue (between GSM and CDMA) meant that a GSM subscriber needs to change handset if he/she opts for a CDMA operator or vice versa. But it will not be a case once MNP comes into the play (but we need clarity from operators on this point).   

While this could be music to the ears of billions of telecom subscribers in India, it could bring headache to the operators who are already struggling with falling revenues due to the falling call rates due to the ongoing cut-throat competition in hyper-competitive Indian market. On the positive, this would force the operators to be on their toes all the time and importantly improve customer service.  On the negative, this can unleash another round of price war in the industry.

But we’ll say: it’s time they (companies) practiced what they proclaim: Customer First.

(Note: This Image is meant for illustration purpose only and is not an endorsement)

Image courtesy: Vodafone.in

Tata Nano, the small car’s big comeback

 

Image Courtesy: indianautosblog.com

Just when critics thought Tata Nano is running out of gas, as its November’ 10 sales crashed to a mere 509 units, a sharp decline of 85% over the preceding month, the People’s Car is back with a vengeance with a sharp upturn in sales to 5,784 units, or a jump of more than 10 folds a month later, i.e., in December’10.

Just to recollect, Nano sales had been on a continuous decline since September after peaking up at 9,000 units in July last. The sales came crashing down to a paltry 509 units by November as safety concerns heightened amidst reports of over half-a-dozen Nanos catching fire and causes of which had remained unknown. This along with long delivery schedules led to huge jump in cancellations of bookings by prospective customers. All this cast a shadow over the nascent success of Nano, the world’s most inexpensive car so far. However, just when every one thought it might be the end of the road for the people’s car, it is back with a vengeance.

So, what led to the turnaround of Nano? A lot of efforts and planning. Tatas went back to the drawing board and started from scratch, from checking vehicle design to its engineering aspects to safety parameters and even some key components. In fact, reportedly, Tatas even replaced the vendor who supplied the combination switches which sparked the fire in Nano cars. Tatas also launched a ‘pre-emptive check' on all Nanos in October 2009 and followed it up by an internal investigation. While all these helped to ally customer fears about safety aspects of Nano, Tata Motors, the makers of Nano, launched several customer-friendly initiatives which include extended warranty of 4 years/60,000 km (whichever is earlier), easy financing option through its own financing arm (Tata Motors Finance) as well as in tie-ups with partnering banks, introduction of a comprehensive maintenance contract for just Rs.99 per month (which is optional though), enhanced safety features of the car and its availability off-the-shelf (one can now buy a Nano car from the company's 874 sales outlets in India).  Got impressed? We too. But this is just one month’s performance. Nonetheless, let us hope the Tatas continue to drive their little wonder in top gear in the months to come.