Hathway Cable, Den Networks hit 52-week low as RIL launches JioGigaFibre

Hathway Cable & Datacom dipped 10% to Rs 18.55, extending its previous day's 15% fall on the BSE, while Den Networks slipped 7% to Rs 62.20, after falling 11% yesterday.

Shares of Den Networks and Hathway Cable & Datacom fell more than 5% for the second straight session after the Reliance Industries’s (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani on Thursday announced the launch of Jio’s fibre to home or fixed line broadband services called Jio GigaFiber.

Hathway Cable & Datacom dipped 10% to Rs 18.55, extending its previous day’s 15% fall on the BSE. Meanwhile, Den Networks has slipped 7% to Rs 62.20, after falling 11% yesterday. Both these stocks are trading at their respective 52-week lows on the BSE.

The launch of the home broadband services is expected to intensify competition for both the direct-to-home as well as cable broadband providers.

The wired broadband arm, JioFiber, has already started offering what they claim to be ‘ultra-high-speed’ fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband connections with 1.1 terabytes (TB) of free data at a speed of 100 megabits per second (mbps) in select markets in the country. The company says it has rolled out 300,000 kilometres of optical fibre network in India and has a target of crossing 50 million households.

“As was the case in the wireless telephony services, the entry of Reliance Jio is expected to exert downward pressure on pricing. This is especially the case in the home broadband industry, which has numerous smaller players who would find it difficult to compete in an environment of intense competition and lower pricing power,” the Business Standard reported, quoting Harsh Jagnani, sector head & vice-president – Corporate Ratings, ICRA. CLICK HERE TO READ FULL REPORT