Latest news with #Vittal
India.com
2 days ago
- Business
- India.com
This man once successfully led Kissan, Berger Paints, Cadbury, his net worth was…, Vijay Mallya is his....
Vijay Mallya (File) New Delhi: Vijay Mallya, once dubbed the 'King of Good Times', recently grabbed headlines after his first interview since 2013, in a conversation with podcaster Raj Shamani, where he discussed a wide range of topics. In his four-hour-long video podcast aired on Thursday, Mallya claimed he made four settlement offers between 2012, following the collapse of the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines, and 2015, which the banks 'refused to accept'. After taking up the role of United Breweries Group chairman at the age of 28, the liquor baron expanded into various sectors, including aviation, beverages, and real estate. Known as the 'King of Good Times,' the journey of the successful businessman to a fugitive has been full of controversies. According to Forbes, his estimated net worth was around $750 million in 2013. In contrast, Vijay Mallya's most recent net worth estimate, as reported by the Independent UK in July 2022, was approximately USD 1.2 billion. Vijay Mallya's Father: Vijay Mallya's father, late Vittal Mallya, was a known name in the world of business entrepreneurship and made his name by creating a big empire with a focus on the alcohol industry. Vittal led big brands Kissan, Cadbury, Berger Paints, Hindustan Polymers, Mangalore Fertilisers, British Paints and Mysore Electro-Chemical Works. Vittal Mallya had a huge impact on Vijay Mallya's life. Both Vittal and Vijay's school and education had taken place in Calcutta, and Vijay, after nine years, recently spoke about his bond with his late dad, Vittal, his strictness, the differences that the father, son had and how Vittal was known to be a frugal spender. Vijay, in a recent podcast of Raj Shamani, spoke about his father and said that Vittal studied in Dune school, topped his class and expected Vijay to also do the same. Vijay then shared what his father told him that made him take his academics seriously. In his words: 'Nevertheless, he said something to me that I think I remember till today. Two things made a profound impact- one, if you are not good enough, you are not going to step into my shoes. The second thing he said was, Do you realise that while I say step into my shoes, there may not be any shoes at all, because then there is the government and social policies may have taken everything away from us. The only thing I can leave to you is your education, so take it seriously. I think I repaid some amount of it because for my last three years in school, I think I came within the top three in class, and he was very happy about it,' Vijay Mallya. 'He was a man of few words. He did one thing that embarrassed me no end. Every time he saw me, he gave a big kiss on my cheek. Whether it was at the airport, office, or home, he would give me a hug and a big kiss on the cheek. Bless him for that,' he added. Vijay Mallya's personal life Mallya married Sameera Tyabji in 1986, though their marriage ended a year later. In 1993, he tied the knot with Rekha Mallya, and the couple has three children – Siddharth, Leanna, and Tanya.
Time of India
17-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Regulatory issues hurt DTH business: Bharti Airtel's Gopal Vittal
Mumbai: Bharti Airtel , which recently called off talks to merge its direct-to-home (DTH) business with Tata Play , said the decline of the DTH business in the country has more to do with regulatory imbalances than with technology. During the company's Q4 earnings call, vice-chairman and MD Gopal Vittal said different distribution systems-like cable TV, DTH, and broadband-are governed by different regulations, despite serving the same set of consumers, with DTH facing stringent rules such as cross-holding restrictions and pricing caps. "The DTH industry is going through its moment of reckoning-not just due to legitimate technological disruption, like IPTV and broadband-enabled connected boxes, but also because of how it has been regulated," Vittal said, adding, "Today, three neighbouring homes-one with DTH, one with cable, and one with broadband-operate under entirely different regulatory constructs. DTH faces price controls and cross-holding restrictions; cable has a different set of rules, and broadband is completely unregulated." He also pointed out the impact of DD Free Dish on the pay-DTH universe, which he said was launched by the government for entirely different purposes. "Then there's the rise of DD Free Dish, which offers strong entertainment content at little to no cost. These are some of the other headwinds that the industry is facing," he said, pointing out that the original intent of DD Free Dish was to provide educational programming in domains like agriculture in rural areas. Despite these headwinds, Vittal believes DTH still has a future, as home broadband won't reach every household-out of 260-270 million homes in India, which includes 150-160 million TV homes. "Perhaps 75-80 million will have broadband in the next five years. That leaves a significant market for linear TV, where DTH will continue to play a role. And there's still an opportunity to grow from cable," Vittal said. On May 3, Airtel announced that it and Tata Play-70% owned by Tata Sons-had mutually agreed to end their discussions, having failed to reach a satisfactory resolution. The deal, if consummated, would have created India's leading pay-TV operator. Airtel has also done away with subsidies on set-top boxes (STBs) to reduce capex in DTH. In FY25, the company's capex on digital TV , which also includes IPTV from Q4, rose 16% to ₹1,665 crore. "We've taken a brave call and done it. We're waiting for the competition to follow, and we hope sense will prevail to strip those subsidies out-because there's no point in subsidies that just rotate your customer," he said. Airtel Digital TV, the DTH brand of Airtel, competes with Tata Play, Sun Direct and Dish TV in the DTH industry, which had 58.22 million paid DTH subscribers as of December 2024. "We've now launched IPTV, which will further enhance our customer experience drive. Convergence has also lowered our capex spend on the box," Vittal noted. Airtel's digital TV business added 76,000 customers in Q4, largely aided by the IPTV launch . In March, Bharti Airtel launched its IPTV service in 2,000 Indian cities, offering 600 TV channels, high-speed Wi-Fi, and on-demand content from 29 streaming apps. "Our IPTV launch has seen an encouraging response from customers. IPTV delivers enhanced convenience with a better user experience and flexibility to watch on demand as well as catch-up content, in addition to linear broadcast content," he noted.
Business Mayor
17-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Regulatory issues hurt DTH business: Bharti Airtel's Gopal Vittal
During the company's Q4 earnings call, vice-chairman and MD Gopal Vittal said different distribution systems-like cable TV, DTH, and broadband-are governed by different regulations, despite serving the same set of consumers, with DTH facing stringent rules such as cross-holding restrictions and pricing caps. 'The DTH industry is going through its moment of reckoning-not just due to legitimate technological disruption, like IPTV and broadband-enabled connected boxes, but also because of how it has been regulated,' Vittal said, adding, 'Today, three neighbouring homes-one with DTH, one with cable, and one with broadband-operate under entirely different regulatory constructs. DTH faces price controls and cross-holding restrictions; cable has a different set of rules, and broadband is completely unregulated.' He also pointed out the impact of DD Free Dish on the pay-DTH universe, which he said was launched by the government for entirely different purposes. 'Then there's the rise of DD Free Dish, which offers strong entertainment content at little to no cost. These are some of the other headwinds that the industry is facing,' he said, pointing out that the original intent of DD Free Dish was to provide educational programming in domains like agriculture in rural areas. Despite these headwinds, Vittal believes DTH still has a future, as home broadband won't reach every household-out of 260-270 million homes in India, which includes 150-160 million TV homes. 'Perhaps 75-80 million will have broadband in the next five years. That leaves a significant market for linear TV, where DTH will continue to play a role. And there's still an opportunity to grow from cable,' Vittal said. On May 3, Airtel announced that it and Tata Play-70% owned by Tata Sons-had mutually agreed to end their discussions, having failed to reach a satisfactory resolution. The deal, if consummated, would have created India's leading pay-TV has also done away with subsidies on set-top boxes (STBs) to reduce capex in DTH. In FY25, the company's capex on digital TV, which also includes IPTV from Q4, rose 16% to ₹1,665 crore.'We've taken a brave call and done it. We're waiting for the competition to follow, and we hope sense will prevail to strip those subsidies out-because there's no point in subsidies that just rotate your customer,' he said. Airtel Digital TV, the DTH brand of Airtel, competes with Tata Play, Sun Direct and Dish TV in the DTH industry, which had 58.22 million paid DTH subscribers as of December 2024. 'We've now launched IPTV, which will further enhance our customer experience drive. Convergence has also lowered our capex spend on the box,' Vittal noted. Airtel's digital TV business added 76,000 customers in Q4, largely aided by the IPTV launch. In March, Bharti Airtel launched its IPTV service in 2,000 Indian cities, offering 600 TV channels, high-speed Wi-Fi, and on-demand content from 29 streaming apps. 'Our IPTV launch has seen an encouraging response from customers. IPTV delivers enhanced convenience with a better user experience and flexibility to watch on demand as well as catch-up content, in addition to linear broadcast content,' he noted.
Time of India
16-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Regulatory issues hurt DTH business: Bharti Airtel's Gopal Vittal
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel Mumbai: Bharti Airtel , which recently called off talks to merge its direct-to-home (DTH) business with Tata Play , said the decline of the DTH business in the country has more to do with regulatory imbalances than with the company's Q4 earnings call, vice-chairman and MD Gopal Vittal said different distribution systems-like cable TV, DTH, and broadband-are governed by different regulations, despite serving the same set of consumers, with DTH facing stringent rules such as cross-holding restrictions and pricing caps."The DTH industry is going through its moment of reckoning-not just due to legitimate technological disruption, like IPTV and broadband-enabled connected boxes, but also because of how it has been regulated," Vittal said, adding, "Today, three neighbouring homes-one with DTH, one with cable, and one with broadband-operate under entirely different regulatory constructs. DTH faces price controls and cross-holding restrictions; cable has a different set of rules, and broadband is completely unregulated." He also pointed out the impact of DD Free Dish on the pay-DTH universe, which he said was launched by the government for entirely different purposes."Then there's the rise of DD Free Dish, which offers strong entertainment content at little to no cost. These are some of the other headwinds that the industry is facing," he said, pointing out that the original intent of DD Free Dish was to provide educational programming in domains like agriculture in rural these headwinds, Vittal believes DTH still has a future, as home broadband won't reach every household-out of 260-270 million homes in India, which includes 150-160 million TV homes. "Perhaps 75-80 million will have broadband in the next five years. That leaves a significant market for linear TV, where DTH will continue to play a role. And there's still an opportunity to grow from cable," Vittal May 3, Airtel announced that it and Tata Play-70% owned by Tata Sons-had mutually agreed to end their discussions, having failed to reach a satisfactory resolution. The deal, if consummated, would have created India's leading pay-TV has also done away with subsidies on set-top boxes (STBs) to reduce capex in DTH. In FY25, the company's capex on digital TV , which also includes IPTV from Q4, rose 16% to ₹1,665 crore."We've taken a brave call and done it. We're waiting for the competition to follow, and we hope sense will prevail to strip those subsidies out-because there's no point in subsidies that just rotate your customer," he Digital TV, the DTH brand of Airtel, competes with Tata Play, Sun Direct and Dish TV in the DTH industry, which had 58.22 million paid DTH subscribers as of December 2024."We've now launched IPTV, which will further enhance our customer experience drive. Convergence has also lowered our capex spend on the box," Vittal noted. Airtel's digital TV business added 76,000 customers in Q4, largely aided by the IPTV launch In March, Bharti Airtel launched its IPTV service in 2,000 Indian cities, offering 600 TV channels, high-speed Wi-Fi, and on-demand content from 29 streaming apps."Our IPTV launch has seen an encouraging response from customers. IPTV delivers enhanced convenience with a better user experience and flexibility to watch on demand as well as catch-up content, in addition to linear broadcast content," he noted.
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Business Standard
15-05-2025
- Business
- Business Standard
Airtel launches AI tool to block scam websites in real time: How it works
Bharti Airtel's AI-powered platform will block scam websites in real time across digital channels, offering automatic protection to mobile and broadband users New Delhi Telecom major Bharti Airtel has launched an AI-powered security platform to block fraudulent websites in real time, aiming to protect users from a growing wave of digital scams. In a regulatory filing, Airtel said the service is the first of its kind in the world. It is currently available in Haryana and will roll out across India soon, Airtel said. It will work across communication platforms including WhatsApp, Telegram, Facebook, Instagram, emails, browsers, and SMS. How Airtel's AI scam blocker works Airtel's multi-layered intelligence system uses AI to scan internet traffic, check global threat repositories, and cross-reference with Airtel's own database of known scammers. When users attempt to access flagged websites, the system will block the page and show a notification explaining the reason. Protection at no extra cost The security service will be automatically enabled for all Airtel mobile and broadband customers at no additional cost. Users will not need to activate it manually. The launch comes amid a surge in online scams, which have evolved beyond OTP frauds and suspicious calls. Improved accuracy after six months of trials Airtel said its solution has reached a high level of accuracy during six months of internal trials. "Our solution has already reached a remarkable level of accuracy in the six months of trials. We will continue working relentlessly until we have made our networks completely safe from spam and scam,' Vittal added.
