The company's broadband services are facing technical problems since the beginning of July.

Around 20,000 subscribers found themselves disconnected from the worldwide web earlier this month.

Company officials attributed that problem to the chopping of cables at several places and the loss of cable and amplifiers.

'We can fight competition on the ground but not the kind that is now played against us. Further in the Internet space we do not have any major rival in Chennai,' one official said.

However, industry experts say there is an uneasy competition between Hathway Cable and the city-based Sun Cable Vision (SCV).

The company, which has invested around Rs.40 crore in its Chennai operations, closed down its cable television operations earlier this month as the operators affiliated to it switched loyalties to SCV.

The shutting down of the Internet operations will render around 300 people jobless.