Hathway expands southern Internet operations amid competition

But, competition is beco
01 November 2002

Chennai: Hathway Cable and Datacom, the cable Internet service provider, has decided to invest Rs 3 crore in its Chennai operations. Much of this investment will go towards expanding the company's 'apartment' business (connecting different flats in a complex using a router).

The company entered the apartment segment some time ago. Currently, this segment constitutes 5 per cent of the company's total business. In the south, Hathway offers cable Internet services in Chennai, Bangalore and Hyderabad. In all these cities, Hathway is concentrating in upmarket areas with a large number of personal computers.

In Chennai, the company's focus is in the areas of Kilpauk, Anna Nagar and Anna Salai, the city's commercial hubs. “We have 80 connections in Anna Salai. Since the area is populated with corporates, the decision-making cycle is a bit long, as some corporates have to get their sanction from the head-offices,“ says Hathway manager (business development, Chennai) Arun M Rao.

Giving an overall view of the southern operations, Hathway head (sales, marketing and customer services: south India) Karthik Bhaskaran says: “In Bangalore, we get 150 enquires every day and the conversion ratio is also good. In Hyderabad we are concentrating in areas like Banjara Hills and Jubilee Hills.“

According to Bhaskaran, the subscriber profile in the three cities is similar. “Five per cent of our subscribers are apartment / router customers; 80 per cent are subscribers to our 'Silver' schemes (predominantly home); 13 per cent are 'Gold' scheme customers (largely commercial); the balance are leased lines and others.“

“Currently our subscriber base is 3,500 (Chennai: 1,300; Bangalore: 1,600; Hyderabad: 300). We will be targeting 40,000 PC-owners in the three cities,“ adds Bhaskaran. In terms of revenue, the average billing is higher in Bangalore than the other two cities. “Chennai customers are conscious of the download limits and do not generally exceed their monthly limits.“