Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Reliance Jio Entry into TV will Disrupt Cable & Dish Market in India

Reliance Jio Infocomm has also applied for a cable MSO license. We believe RJIO has the following connectivity offerings relevant to the space in which HATHWAY operates

RJIO could also launch IPTV services using its cable MSO license once its pipe is present in homes. Last, were RJIO to offer IPTV services, it would compete with HATH’s cable TV offerings. While we acknowledge the risk and build it in our bear case through lower cable subs for HATH, we believe the extent of the challenge will be clearer when the below details are available.

Since seeding is already largely done in Phase I and II markets, RJIO might decide to focus on Phases III and IV, in which case it will not be significantly in HATH’s way. If RJIO launches in IPTV in Phases I and II, it will have to subsidize the boxes completely, in our view, given that subscribers have already paid for the box of either an MSO or a DTH company, and so there is a barrier to exit.

IPTV has not been a big presence even in developed markets and accounts for a very small presence in India. Hence, the acceptability will depend to a large extent on the quality of any offering from RJIO and on the possible bundling offers RJIO announces


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