Ortel Communications was incorporated under the Companies Act, 1956 as “Ortel Communications Limited”, a public limited company pursuant to a certificate of incorporation dated June 2, 1995 issued by the Registrar of Companies, National Capital Territory of Delhi and Haryana (“RoC”) and received the certificate for commencement of business on July 19, 1995. It is a regional cable television and high speed broadband services provider focused in the Indian states of Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal. It has built a two-way communication network for ‘Triple Play’ services (video, data and voice capabilities) with control over the ‘last mile’.

The company pioneered the primary point cable business model in India by offering digital and analog cable television, broadband and VAS services in Orissa, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. It currently holds a dominant position in Orissa, with a fast-emerging presence in its three other markets, covering an addressable market of approximately five million homes. The company’s brand names, “Ortel Home Cable”, “Ortel Digital” and “Ortel Broadband” are well known in the regions in which it operates. The company commenced its business in 1995 and currently, its business is broadly divided into (i) cable television services comprising of (a) analog cable television services; (b) digital cable television services including other value added services such as HD services, NVoD, gaming and local content; (ii) broadband services; (iii) leasing of fibre infrastructure; and (iv) signal uplinking services.

The company’s business model is focused on the control over the ‘last mile’ connection. Owning the end connection allows it direct access to the cable television subscribers thereby helping it to capture the entire subscription revenues paid by the cable television subscribers and reducing reliance on channel carriage fees and also enables it to provide multiple services to its cable television subscribers directly, such as broadband services, which help it to increase the revenue realised per customer.

Business area of the company

The company currently offers services in 48 towns and certain adjacent semi urban and rural areas with over 21,600 kilometers of cables supported by 34 analog head-ends and five digital head-ends. It uses HFC (combination of optic fibre in the backbone and coaxial cable in the downstream) to build its network. It has the legal ‘rights of way’ for laying its network on utility poles as well as for underground cabling which are typically subject to renewal. The company is one of the first private sector companies in India to be granted an ISP license by the Government of India. It is capable of providing data services at a speed of up to 42.88 mbps through the use of cable modem with DOCSIS 2.0 standard through its HFC network. It is in the process of upgrading its modems with DOCSIS 3.0 standard which once implemented will enable provision of broadband services at a higher speed of over 340 mbps. The company currently provides data services at speeds of up to 2 mbps to retail customers and as per the requirements for its corporate customers.

Service Offerings

The company’s business is broadly divided into (i) cable television services comprising of (a) analog cable television services; (b) digital cable television services including other value added services such as HD services, NVoD, gaming and local content; (ii) broadband services; (iii) leasing of fibre infrastructure; and (iv) signal uplinking services.

Key awards and milestones

1995: Incorporation of the company.1995: Started its cable business in Odisha.1998: One of the first private sector companies in India to obtain ISP license and start its high speed internet services.1999: Investment of Rs 85 million by South Asia Regional Fund which is managed by a Mauritian subsidiary of Commonwealth Development Corporation, United Kingdom.2000: Operations expanded to other parts of Odisha.2004: ISO 9001:2000 certified.2005: Crossed 100,000 RGUs.2006: Legal right of way granted outside Odisha in Chattisgarh.2007: Legal right of way granted outside Odisha in West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.2008: Investment of Rs 600 million by NSR.2008: Crossed 200,000 RGUs.2008: Services launched outside Odisha, in the states of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Chattisgarh.2009: Crossed 300,000 RGUs.2010: Best Small and Medium Enterprise by Orissa Computer and Application Centre, Government of Odisha.2010: Pilot project of internet telephony successfully launched.2011: Crossed 400,000 RGUs.2014: Crossed 500,000 RGUs.