GTPL Hathway Ltd
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Earnings Call Transcript

Earnings Call Transcript
2024-Q4

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Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Q4 and FY '24 Results Conference Call of GTPL Hathway Limited, hosted by Emkay Global Financial Services. [Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded.

I now hand the conference over to Mr. Pulkit Chawla from Emkay Global Financial Services. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

P
Pulkit Chawla
analyst

Thank you, Sagar. Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Q4 FY '24 Earnings Call for GTPL Hathway. We have with us today Mr. Anirudhsinh Jadeja, Promoter and Managing Director; Mr. Piyush Pankaj, Business Head CATV and Chief Strategy Officer; and Mr. Saurav Banerjee, Chief Financial Officer.

Without any further delay, I shall now hand over the call to the management for their opening remarks. Over to you, sir.

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Thank you, Pulkit. Good evening, everyone. A warm welcome to everybody to earnings call of GTPL Hathway to discuss the financial performance of quarter 4 and FY '24. The company made progress in its subscriber base across both segments, achieving the 1 million subscriber milestone in broadband business and closing CATV at 9.5 million subscribers with this financial year.

As the largest MSO, we look forward for consolidation of industry and retaining customer based on economy of scale and quality offerings. In the broadband side, the growing trend of distillation, connectivity and larger data consumption will help drive wide broadband growth as India is still under penetrated as compared to the global players.

We are a company with consistent dividend paying history of the shareholders for current financial year FY '24, Board of Directors have recommended a dividend of 40% as INR 4 per share.

I will now hand over to Mr. Piyush Pankaj, who will take you through the segmented KPI and overall business strategy.

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Thank you, Mr. Jadeja. Good evening, everyone. Last, let me share the usual KPIs for our Cable TV and Broadband business before delving into our strategy for both these segments. Our Digital Cable TV subscriber base as on 31st March 2024 stands at 9.5 million. Paying subscribers stand at 8.8 million. On a Y-o-Y basis, the increase in active and paying subscriber is 550,000 and 600,000, respectively.

In the broadband business, as you are aware, we had crossed 1 million subscribers in quarter 3 FY '24 and ending the quarter and financial year '24 at 1.02 million. We thus have added 100,000 new subscribers, an increase of 11% on a Y-o-Y basis. Homepass stood at 5.80 million as of 31st March 2024, of which 75% are available for FTTX conversion.

Homepass grew by 500,000 on a Y-o-Y basis. The Broadband ARPU for quarter 4 and FY '24 remained stable at INR 450. The average data consumption per customer per month stood at 355 GB and 10% increase Y-o-Y. Our strategy for growth, Cable TV remains clear and as previously shared with you all, we will continue to pursue both organic and inorganic opportunities for growth through communication in existing markets, exploring new geographies and acquiring smaller players, respectively.

In Broadband segment, India has one of the lowest fixed broadband penetration. Jan 2024, wired broadband subscribers stood at 38.9 million with 325 million households in India, current subscriber represents 12% penetration, which is far lower than penetration in developed nations of the world.

The overarching strategy involves convergence of both Cable TV and Broadband services to provide holistic bundles to our subscribers to fulfill their entertainment and connectivity needs. Other services integration, such as gaming, OTT apps, [ TV amplifier ], et cetera will help make it a complete package deal for our consumers. This will not only help improve customer stickiness, thereby reaching that churn, but will also help us increase our ARPU and perhaps improve our margins.

I will now hand over the call to Mr. Saurav Banerjee, who will take you through the financial performance of the company.

S
Saurav Banerjee
executive

Thank you, Mr. Piyush. Good evening to all participants. Let me take you through the quarterly results first. On a consolidated basis, revenue grew by 16% Y-o-Y, to INR 8,148 million. Subscription revenues saw an increase of 14% Y-o-Y to INR 3,148 million. The Broadband revenue stood at INR 1,308 million and registered a growth of 5% on a yearly basis.

Operating EBITDA saw an increase of 12% Y-o-Y to INR 1,080 million primarily led by higher growth in subscription income and ISP revenue. Consolidated EBITDA stood at INR 1,198 million increasing by 8% Y-o-Y with an EBITDA margin of 14.7%. Net profit, excluding other comprehensive income for Q4 FY '24 stood at INR 160 million.

Now on to the consolidated full year financial results. We reported revenue in excess of INR 3,000 crores for the first time in the company's history. Revenue grew by 20% Y-o-Y to INR 32,460 million. Subscription revenues saw an increase of 15% Y-o-Y to INR 12,604 million. The Broadband revenue stood at INR 5,268 million and registered a growth of 9% on a yearly basis.

Operating EBITDA saw an increase of 6% Y-o-Y to INR 4,599 million. Consolidated EBITDA stood at INR 5, 111 million with an EBITDA margin of 15.7%. Decrease in EBITDA and margin was primarily due to reduction in deferred activation revenue and decrease in nonoperating income.

Net profit, excluding other comprehensive income for FY '24 stood at INR 1,118 million.

I would now request the moderator to open the floor for the Q&A session.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Gunit Singh from Counter Cyclical PMS.

G
Gunit Singh
analyst

Am I audible?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes, yes, Gunit, please go ahead.

G
Gunit Singh
analyst

Yes. So I would like to understand revenues were in the range of INR 2,400 crores to INR 2,600 crores for the past couple of years. But right now, we have seen quite a good growth in the revenues. So what is the main driver for this growth, first, if we have like to understand that?

And secondly, even though our revenues have grown quite significantly, the operating margins have shrunk to all-time low levels. So I mean, what is the reason for this fall in the operating margin? And what kind of steady state margin should we expect going forward? And would we be able to regain the margins that we enjoyed previously?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Gunit, this year, if you see that CATV revenue has grown by around 15%, which is more than INR 100 crores, which has come into the [ copper ] and ISP revenue has grown by around 9% in the overall. And because of this too good growth, you will see that there is a jump in the revenue side. Yes, on the margin side, as you say, as I always say that look at the operating margin, which I have given in my presentation, you will see that we are doing at 22% of operating margin, which is given in the presentation, which is net of what we pay to the broadcasters and net of all-time revenue and expenses. So we are maintaining that operating margin. It is in the range of 24% to 26%, which is going up from the last 5 years, if you see and we are at the same rate which we are maintaining. So I would say that it will improve from care for the betterment.

G
Gunit Singh
analyst

All right, sir. And what kind of threat do we see from direct [ component ]? I mean, non-wired broadband, for example, Jio or I mean Airtel, they are coming up with direct Internet without the need for any wired connection. So don't you feel like even the cable TV and the wired broadband, they are threatened by such players, wherein people can directly view, I mean the channels or TV through Internet rather than getting these wired connections. So I mean, what kind of threat do you foresee from these. And like you mentioned that India has very low penetration in wired broadband and even direct cable TV. So probably, don't you think that this -- this can be -- I mean, this phase of just moving inflow of -- in the direction of wired, this can be just replaced by growing wireless through platforms like Jio or Airtel, don't you think -- I mean, that is a possibility or what kind of threats you pursue from this?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Gunit, you mentioned it right that, as I mentioned in my opening speech, only12% penetration is there in India wherein if you talk about U.S. market, it was already more than 70%, [ Europe ] is already more than 65%, but China is at 55%, Korea and other countries are at 80% penetration of wired because one thing we have to understand that wired is -- the consistency, if we require then you will have to go for the wired. Because in the wireless, you will not get the consistent broadband, you can say it will go up and down, the [indiscernible] are going up and down depending upon the amount of people under the [ tower ].

But I will say still in the wired broadband side, India is at the start-up poll. Every player is doing their best. The telcos are also there, the independent players are also there. We can talk about [indiscernible] all of there into this market and everyone has the open market. It's a very big market right now. We are considering that somewhere the wired broadband from 38 million, 39 million will go to around 150 million in the next 5 to 7 years. So it's a big, big market for the [indiscernible]. So that's why we are not worried about the competition as there is a lot of subscribers to take it.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Ravi Patel, who's an individual investor.

U
Unknown Attendee

Congratulations. So my first question is that there seems to be a change in reporting of the fiber infra. Our leased fibers have more than doubled from around 6,500 kilometers to somewhere 16,000 kilometers and no mention of underground fiber either. So is there some reconstitution in reporting or some strategic change where you want to focus more on used equipment?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

No, it's more often, if you see from 97,000 we have gone to one less on the owned one. And the leased one as it was in [indiscernible] reporting here when we are showing the 16,000-plus, which we have corrected this year as in the last 2 years, we have gone for the -- a lot of connection from Airtel and Jio on that -- on the telcos. So there, we did that correction in the reporting figures. Those are the correct figures.

U
Unknown Attendee

Okay. And so like is my understanding correct that the rise in yield liabilities for the year is largely due to the rising leased cables. And like how much of increase in interest costs are split between debt repayments and interest on yield liabilities?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Come again, can you repeat the question, please? Your voice was cracking.

U
Unknown Attendee

Am I audible now?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes, yes, audible.

U
Unknown Attendee

I just wanted to understand like -- is my understanding correct when it comes to yield liabilities for the year in large -- the year, the rises due to the rise in leased cables or like how much of the increase in interest cost is split between debt repayments and interest on lease liabilities?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes, yes.

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes. So the finance for interest cost has 2 components -- primarily 2 components are there. One is, of course, as you said, the debt cost, which is about, on an average, our debt cost is about 8.5%. So based on utilization of our limits, the debt costs may vary from quarter-to-quarter or from a reporting date to another reporting date. And there is an operating lease, so there's an accounting-related entry, which also is a part of the finance costs. So these are the 2 components. One is the real finance cost and one is the operating lease-related accounting entry, which is included in the finance cost. So these are the 2 components.

Operator

The next question is from the line of Anjali Mishra, who is an individual investor.

U
Unknown Attendee

So my question is regarding project income and cost. So on a net basis between project income and cost, they have seen barely any profit. So could you please guide me on the accounting of the same? And also, are we booking expenses we are yet to monetize and also because the previous guidance has shown 12% to 13% margin in the project, so I'm currently only getting INR 2 million net on the INR 410 million cost.

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes. So this project, I think we have taken that in the quarter 3. So this project is fronted by the Gujarat ISP Services Limited, GISL after tendering of INR 46 crores, where in the gram panchayats of 8,000 Gujarat villages and that Phase 1 and Phase 2 of BharatNet project has to be made WiFi enabled by supplying the materials and installation of the same at the gram panchayat villages.

So this project is almost over, and we have taken the revenues in the last quarter and cost also, we have taken in the last quarter. Some of the revenues is fully pending, which we will take in the next quarter, as this quarter, we have not taken. And yes, the margin is going to be around 12% margin in this project.

U
Unknown Attendee

Okay. And one more question...

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

[indiscernible] has already been taken, some of the revenues have to be taken.

U
Unknown Attendee

Okay. And the other question is regarding the growth in active subscribers in your TV division has stayed at the same level, pretty much post Q2 FY '24. So why has that been the case?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

You are talking about full subscriber, cable or [indiscernible]?

U
Unknown Attendee

TV Division, subscribers in your TV division.

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

TV division.

U
Unknown Attendee

Yes. Yes. TV division.

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes. So TV division as we see active subscribers, year-to-year, Y-to-Y have increased by around 550,000 and paying has increased by around 600,000. There is an increase in the subscriber base, more than 0.5 million in the year.

U
Unknown Attendee

So did we see a lot of churn in H2 FY '24 and there was less net addition to the subscriber base?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes. Churn is going to be there, as I explained in earlier calls also. But yes, we think we are doing the acquisitions and all, which is the churn is between [indiscernible] to 17%, varying here and there with the market, but we are between [ 15% ] to 17% is the churn, which is going up. But yes, we are doing the organic and inorganic growth, and we are adding the numbers. .

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of Ketan Athavale from RoboCapital.

K
Ketan Athavale
analyst

I have 2 questions. Firstly, can you give guidance for next 2 years regarding revenue and margins? And secondly, when do we expect to reach 19% to 20% kind of margin on a full revenue basis?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

See, if you talk about the CAGR, we have given that we are rolling up at the 17% of CAGR on the revenue side and EBITDA growth has a bit down because earlier when was growing at 12% to 13% now it is at 7% to 8%, but yes, as we go forward, there are plans to increase the revenue and reduce the cost that already we have dreamed back in [indiscernible]. So we are hopeful that in FY '25, the operating margin, we are talking about, it will again jump back to 26%, 27%. And there, we will start seeing that there is a jump in the net profit also. So that's what we are doing right now and planning to do that's the plan which we are taking care of in this FY '25.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from the line of [ Sanika ] from [ SAFIRE Capital ].

U
Unknown Analyst

So for quarter 4, we had given a guidance of 17% EBITDA margin. So I just want to understand, why have we not been able to achieve this?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes. So we did around 15% margin instead of 17%. That is because of 2 revenues, which have gone down, which is onetime dividend and [indiscernible] one was other income, if you see, both have gone down around from INR 36 crores to -- INR 35 crores has gone down because of that. If we add back that, we will be at around 17.5%. In presentation, I have given the operational margin, our operating EBITDA also just after the financials. If you see there, we are at 25%, 24% EBITDA margin right now, which is 1% down from the last year, but then we are very -- it is in the range of 24% to 26%. And we are confident that we will be back to 25%, 26% next year.

U
Unknown Analyst

Okay. So can we say that in the next year which is FY -- sorry this year, which is FY '25, we will be able to do 20% to 21% kind of margin for the full year? And can we say quarter 1, we can get around 17% to 18% margin, which one was for quarter 4?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

One thing which I'm always saying in the call that because we have to see the margins after letting the payment to broadcasters and revenue from the broadcast. That's why we will take the proper EBITDA margin, operational EBITDA margin, which we did as the operating margin. So that's why we have started giving the operational margin, which is, if you calculate it for the year in the [indiscernible], it is between the range of 24% to 26% throughout. So we are -- as a business, we are maintaining that operating margin throughout. This is because the paid channel are, you can say that the payment to broadcaster and the revenue from broadcaster, there [indiscernible] as mismatch and because of that, you are seeing that overall, you are seeing that the margin is going down because the contribution of marketing and placement in to revenue is lower than the main revenue of subscription and higher [indiscernible]. And because of that, it is pulling down the market.

But you have to see it [indiscernible], what you are paying to the broadcaster and what you are getting from the broadcasters. If you make that, you will come to the real business margin. And that's what we are giving in the operation margin.

U
Unknown Analyst

Okay. And next year, like we have guided before a 20% growth. So in FY '25 as well, we can expect 20% growth in our top line?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes, yes. We can talk about the operational margin. As I said that it is going to be between 24% to 26%. We are trying to maintain that or increase that on operational side. In real margin, if we talk about, because it depends on that what we are getting it from for the broadcaster and what we are paying to the broadcasters. Based on that, what contribution of paid channels of marketing and marketing and incentive revenues [indiscernible] revenue is going to be in the [indiscernible] base on that, your margin will go up and down.

So we are not sure about that because we do the business in the net basis [indiscernible] all this thing on the net basis. So I would say that if you follow the operational margin, that will be great.

U
Unknown Analyst

Okay. And just one more question, which is on the depreciation side, we've done INR 337 crores of depreciation we've had in this year. So next year, again, can we expect a INR 25 crores, INR 26 crores increase based on the CapEx guidance that you've given last year?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes. This year is a big exception, but next year also because [indiscernible] that we have to do some of the CapEx for maintaining the business. The churn has gone up from earlier 8% to -- 7% to 8% to now 15%. So that way, we have [indiscernible] was 7% to 8% after 4-point up to 15%. So where you have to do some CapEx for maintaining the business. And those are adding into the depreciation, which is not contributing into the [indiscernible] so that's equity increase. But yes, it will be not increased at that level, but it will increase.

U
Unknown Analyst

Okay. And CapEx number is around INR 400 crores, right, which is the annual maintenance CapEx?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes, we are going to do between INR 350 crores to INR 400 crores in FY '25.

U
Unknown Analyst

Sorry, can you repeat the number?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

We were going to do CapEx of between INR 350 crores to INR 400 crores in FY '25.

Operator

Next question is from the line of Jayakanth Kasthuri from Way2Wealth.

J
Jayakanth Kasthuri
analyst

Yes. Sir, I was going through your balance sheet. In terms of your borrowing, this has increased. Could you tell me the reason, probably is because of the project which you are doing right now or still any other reasons to?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes. So you will see that there is an increase in the borrowing. This is mainly due to -- you're right, due to the project. We have to give some margin money, and we have to utilize our limits, the order limits fully. And because of that, you will see there is an increase in the borrowing increase.

J
Jayakanth Kasthuri
analyst

Sir, do you see it coming down in first half of the year?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes. Yes. Within '25, FY '25 will be at the same level as it was in FY '23. In FY '24, it has been increased because of the projects. And because of that, we have to utilize our [indiscernible] at the maximum level. We are expecting that it will come down in FY '25.

J
Jayakanth Kasthuri
analyst

Sir, with regards to the trade receivables, primarily from the broadcasters receivables, how do you see it?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes. Yes. So trade receivable here is booked. We also take trade receivables and payables which almost -- both the -- both sides around 80% is increase. That 80% is from the broadcaster.

J
Jayakanth Kasthuri
analyst

Okay. It's not particularly one broadcaster.

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

No. No. There's no particular broadcaster. It's -- we receive money also from them. We have to pay them costs.

J
Jayakanth Kasthuri
analyst

Yes. Yes. That's true. That's right. Yes, yes. Sir, in terms of your -- I was looking about the activated -- activation cost. It has come down very significantly. Do we see it further coming down for this financial year also?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes, yes. It will come down because the activation is -- the deferred one, which we have -- which slightly was impacted [indiscernible] activation and you have to defer it for 5 years. So this all you are seeing that, which is going down, is a deferred revenue, which is going down. Now we are doing the activation as we're taking activation and directly charging for the -- for this year [indiscernible]. And that's why I would say that it's noncash onetime, which is [indiscernible], and this has come down by around INR 16 crores this year. Next year also, it'll be -- come down by around INR 7 crores to INR 8 crores to INR 9 crores which we have to see.

Operator

The next question is from the line of [ Siddhant Shah ] from Corporate Database.

U
Unknown Analyst

This is [ Nigel ]. Sir, I have a couple of questions. One, I think we completed the acquisition of Metro Cast in this quarter, right? Did we consolidate the entity before itself? Or after this consolidation, has that added subscribers and the subscription income to our P&L?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes. Yes. We have started consolidating it from the quarter 2 when we are taking it up to 4% and the control on the company. This quarter, we have as consolidated [indiscernible], we have increased our stake to 50.1% now in the country.

U
Unknown Analyst

So in this quarter, it was 50.1%, right, after this quarter, maybe March.

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

That's right. That's right. So this quarter, it's 50.1%. So the [indiscernible] be happening somewhere around 13th of March, 13th of March [indiscernible].

U
Unknown Analyst

We have consolidated that entity from Q2 itself?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

That's right. That's right. In Q2, we have given that -- we have started consolidating Metro Cast numbers.

U
Unknown Analyst

Got it. Got it. And now since we have acquired the majority stake, like how many more subscribers has Metro Cast added to our active subscribers? Or that hasn't made any change yet?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes, it's like 4 and 4.5 lakhs, which is there in 9.5 million that we are giving. So 4.5 lakhs subscriber has come from the Metro Cast.

U
Unknown Analyst

Metro Cast. Got it. And just, sir, on a quarter-on-quarter thing, I noticed that there has been a slight degrowth in both subscription and broadband revenues on a quarter-on-quarter basis, but we've actually seen our number of subscribers increase while ARPU is stable. So just wanted to understand, is that just an accounting entry that is -- like it has decreased?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes. It is that. We have to see that there is a 1 day, which is lesser in the quarter than the quarter 3. So there is an effect of 1 day revenue, which is there in both ISP and cable side. Plus, as you know, this quarter, there is Ramadan, and in the Ramadan time, always the subscriber goes down and again come back. So they are coming back, the numbers. But yes, so March, we got affected due to Ramadan. And where you see in this quarter, we are grossing around INR 1 crore of revenue in that. So it's a 1 day plus INR 1 crore.

U
Unknown Analyst

Got it. Okay. And sir, in terms of just CapEx, did we include Metro Cast acquisition in our CapEx figures for FY '24? And are we going to keep this stake at 50.1%? or is FY '25 CapEx number accounting for the remaining acquisition of Metro Cast?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

No. No. The -- whatever we did that is coming into the investment in our books right now. And from next year onwards, we are going to go for the CapEx now because the deal was to -- as you can see there, that was to give them the check or cash for INR 25 crores plus the boxes to [indiscernible]. That's why. So those all have gone into the investment right now. So no CapEx will happen. The CapEx this year is INR 396 crores, which is out of that, INR 200 crores is cable and INR 196 crores is broadband.

U
Unknown Analyst

Got it. So this acquisition is not counted in that CapEx figure, is it?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

No. No. It is in the investment.

U
Unknown Analyst

Okay. Got it. So just in terms of -- now I understand that the churn has increased, and I was just looking at the operating EBITDA, which you emphasized we spent almost around INR 400 crores of CapEx this year in FY '24 and while our EBITDA has mainly increased by 6%, so which is an increment of around just INR 30 crores to INR 41 crores. So we spent almost INR 400 crores in increasing our operating EBITDA by just INR 40 crores. So incremental return on our CapEx has been nearly 10%. So moving forward, do you think that this metric, also our incremental growth, will increase with our being CapEx that we're doing?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes, [ Siddhant ]. So this time, as I say, that the [ fast side equity ], the NTO 3.0 has come into the effect. And every -- the whole market [indiscernible] from the free channel [ on this day ]. That's why we're seeing the muted growth of 6% in the operating margin that you see in the EBITDA side. But from FY '25, it should become stable. Again, you should start seeing somewhere between 10% to 12% growth in the EBITDA side.

U
Unknown Analyst

Got it. Got it. Got it. And last one, just -- since you mentioned that we are very underpenetrated in our broadband as a category, India is very underpenetrated, so what is the market growth of broadband that is happening? And what is the growth that we would be looking at, given our geographies and our penetration? So what would be our growth estimate? Because we also underpenetrated, but however, we have a lot of competition as well, so what would be our growth expectations? And what will be the market growth expectations according to you?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

The market [indiscernible] last few years, it has grown from 22 million to 38 million right now. Somewhere, market is growing at around, we can say, 50% on that rate in the last 2 years. From 20 million, 23 million to somewhere around 38 million right now. And if we -- that growth rate or a bit of that growth, not 50%, at least 30%, 25% is maintained, then we are looking forward at a cross -- the whole industry may cross 100 million within next 4 to 5 years' time. So that's what we are looking forward, that if CAGR will be maintained in this market. And now -- so the opportunity is very big.

And as you know, BharatNet projects are coming, which is growing, too. So the growth will come from the Tier 2 cities and the rural in the broadband right now and where the infrastructure is getting made. So we are looking forward that as the infrastructure improvement will happen, this industry growth and improve from the time -- from there. So BharatNet project has [indiscernible] seen states that have project is starting now. Wherever the BharatNet project is completed on those states, you will see the penetration is more. The states, which is still lapping, is where the BharatNet project is not there. So all those things are there and then -- so we'll see that how it is improved. Again, we are very, very hopeful that the penetrations are very high than other countries. India will witness that also with the time.

Operator

The next question is from the line of Tanya Gupta from Green Portfolio.

T
Tanya Gupta
analyst

So my first question is, what is the update on GTPL Genie existing guidance?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes. So we are relaunching the Genie app. It will be launched by end of April or first week of May, somewhere. So already Airtel has gone into the annuity with the testing, and we are hopeful that it will be launched by end of April or first week of May.

T
Tanya Gupta
analyst

Sure, sir. So in quarter 2, you had indicated that there were 100,000 subscribers onboard. So if you can elaborate on what's the status currently?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

How much -- is it Genie you're talking about?

T
Tanya Gupta
analyst

Sorry, sir. Pardon me?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

You are talking about GTPL Genie?

T
Tanya Gupta
analyst

Not, sir.

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Your voice was a bit cracking. Can you repeat the question, please?

T
Tanya Gupta
analyst

Sir, in quarter 2, you had indicated that there were 100,000 subscribers onboard. So what's the status currently?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

100,000 [indiscernible] -- I have given somewhere around 40,000 at that time, quarter 2, yes, 40,000. On that, 25,000 is from the -- 25,000, 26,000 is from the broadband. The rest is from the cable at that time. Now it has reached to around 75,000. Out of that, around 45,000 to 50,000, 45,000, 46,000 is from the broadband subscribers versus from the cable subscribers.

T
Tanya Gupta
analyst

Sir, can you guide on the time line when we can see the definite impact of it on the performance?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Yes. We are hopeful that we are launching the new app with TV Everywhere and all those things, all those facilities, all the OTTs and all. We are hopeful that, that will be the impetus to the market. Yes, as you know, OTT market has a big slowdown in the last 1 year, which we are seeing that big OTT players also have a slowdown in the subscriber base. But still, we are hopeful that we will start -- get to see more subscribers in our own [ viewers ].

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from the line of Madhur Rathi from Counter Cyclical Investments.

M
Madhur Rathi
analyst

Sir, I wanted to understand our EBITDA margin. So considering the broadcasting, whatever we pay to the broadcaster as well as whatever we get is our part of our business, and you need to take it as a bundle for your EBITDA margin. So what kind of margins can we maintain considering those charges or whatever we get? And what will it take for us to get more than we paid to broadcasters?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

So as I said earlier also, that, similarly, you have to see that business by getting what we are paying to the broadcaster and what we are taking it from the broadcasters because their margin of marketing and placement income is a low, very low margin. And that is the contribution in the EBITDA is low. And that's why it is pulling out the margins in that way. But you have to see that [indiscernible] and see that whether what we are paying and what we are getting from the broadcasters, both are [ on that way ] and what margins we are maintaining. That's we have given in the -- we are at around 24%, 25%, and we are going to improve from there.

M
Madhur Rathi
analyst

But sir, I understand this is a part of our business because we need to pay those charges as well as we get some of these charges. So this is in-built in our margin. So that's what I'm trying to understand, that even considering those charges, what kind of margins are sustainable on our business?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

This has grown towards between 17% to 18%. [indiscernible] on that way, if we look into that. But I will say operating margin, you're looking to that way or lead to the way which I take by netting it out so that you can know that, okay, what we are doing in the business, whether we are paying or we are [indiscernible]. We have here the margin [indiscernible] the time. Somewhere, some marketing incentive and now we are getting 9%. Somewhere, we are getting 15%, somewhere, getting 2%, somewhere, 3%. It depends on our different markets. That's why the margin varies.

M
Madhur Rathi
analyst

Okay. And sir, my next question would be, sir, the broadband ARPU growth that we have seen. So do we -- so what kind of growth price hike can we expect from the broadband side? Or this is being dictated by the bigger players, and we just take whatever we can.

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

No. We are growing. If you see last 3 years, we have improved from somewhere 650 to 1 million for the [ business ]. So we will start -- we are saying that we are going to somewhere increase by 50% to 60%. That's we did right now. We are looking forward that we will maintain that growth. From 1 million subscriber base from here, we are going to add between 100,000 to 150,000 every year. And we will reach somewhere around -- in the next 3 years, somewhere between 1.2 to 1.5 million subscriber base. So that's we are going to be seeing.

M
Madhur Rathi
analyst

Sir, my question was regarding the ARPU growth that is INR 460 for FY '24. So where do we see this going forward? So do we take price hikes based on our own internal guidelines? Or is it catered by the bigger players? That was my question.

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

No. The broadband is the volume win right now, not the value win. We are maintaining our ARPU in this competitive market, and we will try to do that to maintain our ARPU overall. Yes, through volume, we're going to increase. As I say that this market is very, very good. Business is starting up. Right now, we have 38 million subscriber base in India. We are looking forward that would go up 150 million the next 5 to 7 years. So [indiscernible]. So yes, we have to maintain our ARPU, which we are doing in a competitive market, and we have to play the volume game.

M
Madhur Rathi
analyst

Okay. Sir, that was helpful. And just my final question, sir, what would be the average ARPU that we are expecting from the GTPL Genie?

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

GTPL Genie is more for the stickiness rather than making the revenue. If you see, the lowest price there is INR 119 for 7 app, which has been a bundle of -- and it is going up to somewhere around INR 300 for 15 apps, the monthly tariff we talk about. So there, it is more for my customer for the stickiness rather than making the revenue out of that. Yes, we are making the margin of around 18% to 20% on that business also. So that's the range which we are looking for, somewhere the ARPU will fall between that INR 119 to INR 300, and the margin will be somewhere between 15% to 20%.

Operator

Members of the management, I believe Mr. Rathi has dropped from the question queue. So we'll take the next question. That will be from the line of [ Raj ] from [ Arjav Partners ].

U
Unknown Analyst

Sir, I skipped a point on the app part, which you are telling to launch at end of April, end of May. Can you elaborate on the app, what exactly it is and what incremental revenues that we expect from it?

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

So that is a completely B2C application for the consumer where consumer can see the TV Everywhere, can watch OTT application, any OTT application, where consumer can use directly to the -- any OTT, POTT or free OTT or you can watch any linear TVs on -- so you use this app. So that is -- we are completely launching. It's completely my GTPL B2C applications. We're complete -- it's -- GTPL [Foreign Language], whether it's in a cable TV or broadband. You get free application service and a linear TV side also. And yes, you get OTT also.

U
Unknown Analyst

[Foreign Language]

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

[Foreign Language] Basically, it's completed. The last 8 days [indiscernible] already there, but we are launching completely in a friendly users. So it's completely the ease of operation purpose. So we are launching completely in a new version.

U
Unknown Analyst

Understood. And whosoever subscribes to the Internet, so they get the app for free. Is it...

A
Aniruddhasinhji Jadeja
executive

Yes. If the customer is for GTPL ISP customers or GTPL digital customers will get free.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Ladies and gentlemen, that was the last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments.

P
Piyush Pankaj
executive

Thank you. I would like to express my thanks to every participant who took their time out to attend the call. For any queries, please free -- feel free to connect with Orient Capital who are our Investor Relations advisers. Thank you once again. Have a good day.

Operator

Thank you. On behalf of Emkay Global Financial Services, that concludes this conference. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.

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