Multi system operator Ortel Communications said it had 70,273 broadband subscribers on its network during the quarter ended June, 2017 (Q1 FY18), down from 73,087 subscribers it reported in the previous quarter. Ortel’s Cable TV base also dropped to 747,528 subscribers during the quarter, from 750,471 subscribers reported in the last quarter. Note that broadband users accounted for 8.5% of Ortel’s total (broadband+cable TV) subscribers. This number was at 9.7% in the previous quarter. The company holds a Multi System Operator License and operates both broadband and cable TV service in states like Odisha, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. It claims to have a presence in 78 towns within these states. It launched high-value plans in April with FUP of up to 1 TB to help increase data usage on its network and to attract new users. “Extreme competition hurt performance; might raise fresh funds”: Ortel Ortel had recovered from the impact of demonetization and competition in the previous quarter, and added a marginal number of subscribers on both broadband and Cable in Q4 FY17. However, in the current quarter, both broadband and cable base has dropped. “This has been a challenging period for the company as intense competition in our core markets and new subscriber integration issues in new markets continued to impact our performance," Bibhu Prasad Rath, CEO of Ortel Communications said in a statement Ortel has also hinted on either raising fresh funds or consolidation to sustain its operations in the competitive market. “We are…
