Rs. 1,000-crore capex plan for Hathway Cable.

Hathway Cable & Datacom, a fixed line broadband internet service provider, is planning to invest up to Rs. 1,000 crore in the next three years to expand its presence in the broadband business, while targeting an addition of 1 million subscribers by the time. The company recentlyannounced the launch of its services in India with ultra-high-speed broadband technology.

“In the next three years, we are looking to add 1 million consumers across the country, with a capital expenditure (capex) of around Rs. 800-1,000 crore,” said Rajan Gupta, managing director of Hathway Cable & Datacom.

It also plans to add 500,000 consumers in Chennai and expects a capex of around Rs. 500 crore in the next three years.

Gupta said the company was bullish on the Tamil Nadu market and its expected incremental growth. 'Tamil Nadu is a largest state for telecom and the interest we see here is huge,' Gupta added.

The company has launched its broadband services in Chennai and will expand its presence to 10 more cities in the state. It has also set up a data centre in Chennai.

The company has launched its Gigabite Passive Optical Networks Fiber to Home technology, claiming it would offer 150 mbps speed and 1,000 gigabyte (GB) for download at Rs. 999.

The company said it would offer end-to-end fibre solution.

The consumption of over-the-top content from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime and HOOQ is increasing and this would require high-speed reliable services. The company has tied up with Cisco, Oracle, ZTE and Nokia for hardware and software components.

At present, the company’s broadband business is present in 10 cities.

BS