Dear Shareholders,
A year after a strategic shift in our business approach, I am happy to share with you
the success of our new strategy in ensuring that SITI remains the first and preferred
choice of a growing base of customers across India. SITI's transformation into a more
agile and responsive organisation is completely aligned to the evolving needs of its
Broadband and Cable TV segments. It also endorses the Company's deep insights into the
changing contours of the market and customer needs, and the robust capabilities that equip
it to fulfil the same.
At the core of SITI's strong foundations and competencies lies its customer-centric
approach, which we have painstakingly nurtured through the years, without faltering even
during the difficult Covid pandemic period.
Customer-first ethos
At the core of SITI's strong foundations and competencies lies its customer-centric
approach, which we have painstakingly nurtured through the years, without faltering even
during the difficult Covid pandemic period. The pandemic changed a lot of things in our
way of doing business, as physical customer interaction gave way to greater digital
adoption in terms of engagement, and speed took even more of a centre stage in the
consumer's life.
At SITI, we had, during the pandemic times, embarked on a realignment of our business
strategy, with enhanced focus on nurturing our ‘customer first' ethos. FY2023
witnessed a further scale-up of our efforts in this direction, with path breaking
initiatives that resonate with the customers' evolving aspirations and enrich their
experience.
With the introduction of Broadband plans bundled with ‘WATCHO' (OTT Platform), we
are successfully addressing the customer shift and inclination towards OTT and digital
streaming. Our OTT offerings have unleashed a new level of excitement among both, our
Broadband and Cable TV customers, and we see this segment growing significantly in the
coming quarters. Among our other new customer-friendly initiatives is our SITI verified
WhatsApp account, which we have launched as an integrated offering to enable more seamless
communication with our customers and business partners.
These initiatives are aligned with our ‘partnering our customers' approach, which
also drives our commitment to ensuring customer delight through our day-and-night customer
support centre. Quick resolution of their complaints is also central to this focus, as it
enables us to ensure customer satisfaction at all times.
Expanding our footprints through partnerships
Partnership has always been a way of doing business at SITI. Recent years have seen a
significant reinforcement of this approach, leading to expansion of our customer portfolio
across India. During FY2023, our Broadband business showed its highest base growth ever,
at the back of our focussed partnership-based initiatives. These included strengthening of
our LCO partnerships, as well as new lead generation campaigns to partner our Broadband
sales teams in their efforts to expand into new territories. New models have been adopted
to spread the SITI network into new cities in a more cost-effective manner.
I am happy to share that these initiatives have significantly accelerated the pace of
SITI Broadband adoption in the country. In FY2023, we posted our highest ever base growth,
and our active customer base stands at 2.85 lakh around 73 cities and towns in the
country, as on March 31, 2023. We crossed notable customer landmarks of 50,000 and 10,000
customers in the states of Delhi and Maharashtra respectively during the year. Our website
traffic has also witnessed significant traction at the back of our ‘Mission 10K Lead'
programme, resulting in new leads on Facebook and Google platforms.
Keeping people at the centre
We, at SITI, believe customer satisfaction to be a journey best steered by the
collective efforts of empowered employees within the organisation. We have, therefore,
kept our people at the centre of our customer-led efforts. Our proactive investments in
our people growth and welfare are aimed at achieving the highest level of customer
happiness. During FY2023, we continued with our various employee engagement initiatives
along with rewards & recognition to keep them motivated and aligned to the
oganisational goals. A Leadership Meet during the year emerged as a forum for team
building and for laying out the strategic roadmap for the future.
Implementing NTO 3
SITI's agility was also manifest during the year in the implementation of the New
Tariff Order – NTO 3, as per the TRAI regulation. We have implemented new rates for
our broadcaster bouquet and channels effective from April 1, 2023, after signing RIO
agreements with all the major broadcasters, including Star India, Zee Entertainment, Sony
Pictures, India Cast, SUN TV and ETV. While the implementation of the new pricing regime
has made TV services expensive for the subscribers, it does reflect SITI's ability to move
quickly into changing modes to ensure that we do not lag behind in regulatory compliances,
which are essential for our survival and growth in the market.
Going forward, I am confident that this kind of responsiveness will continue to drive
our value proposition for our customers and other stakeholders. Quick adaptability to
external changes is essential for building on the Company's strengths, and we remain
committed to aligning our strategy to the transformations taking place in the business
eco-system and the market scenario.
Best Wishes
Yogesh Sharma