Hathway Carves Out Broadband Bussiness to Subsidiary

The Board of Directors of the Company have given its in-principle approval to demerge, transfer and vest the Company’s entire broadband business into its wholly owned subsidiary, Hathway Broadband Private Limited, subject to requisite approvals from the Shareholders, Creditors, High Court(s), Department of Telecommunications, Stock Exchanges, Securities and Exchange Board of India and other applicable regulatory/ governmental authorities.

The carve out of the broadband business is aimed at accelerating value creation for Hathway Shareholders. The separation will allow Hathway to aggressively focus on the significant growth potential for high speed data and related services in India. Globally, wireline or fixed broadband has emerged as a key driver of technology adoption and overall, GDP growth. India lags most countries including countries in Asia in wireline broadband penetration reaching only about 8% of the potential universe. Hathway Broadband intends to take the lead in driving wireline broadband penetration in India and become a key player in Prime Minister Modi's Digital India Initiative. The Company believes that its hybrid fiber coax infrastructure on DOCSIS 3.0 platforms is the most effective and sustainable technology in a price sensitive market like India.

Jagdish Kumar, MD & CEO- Hathway Cable & Datacom Limited said that “We are uniquely placed to leverage our leading position in the Cable Television Industry and our brand to provide Indian subscribers with a world class broadband experience. This restructuring recognizes that the market dynamics of the Broadband Business are unique as compared to our parent Cable Television business. The separation is a step towards increasing the Broadband Business' customer focus and market competitiveness and in delivering a superior value proposition to our subscribers”.