Cable stocks rally 20% after Trai move on digitisation

Stocks of cable service providers today zoomed by up to 20 per cent on bourses, a day after the broadcast regulator Trai fixed the sunset date for phasing out analog TV services in the country.

Shares of Hathway Cable & Datacom saw a whopping upsurge of 20 per cent to Rs 233.70 in early trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange. On the similar lines, Dish TV climbed 9.82 per cent to a 52-week high of Rs 51.40.

Den Networks rallied 19.51 per cent to hit a year high of Rs 256, while Wire & Wireless India rose to Rs 16.59, up 17.74 per cent from previous close.

"This is the first time that the official statement has come from TRAI on the specific time period for digitisation of cable networks. I feel this is a very positive development for all the cable operators," CNI Research CMD Kishore P Ostwal said.

Yesterday, TRAI had set December 31, 2013, as the sunset date for analogue TV services in the country. It recommended phasing out analogue television in the four Metros by March 31 next year and in the rest of the country by December 31, 2013.

The digital addressable systems will enable consumers to watch high-quality digital television channels of their choice on individual basis. Also, digital systems have the capacity to deliver many more channels to the consumers than analogue cable.

The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had sought TRAI recommendations on digital addressable systems on June 2.