Spectranet to invest Rs 500 cr in wi-fi business -Governance Now

Spectranet to invest Rs 500 cr in wi-fi business

Next five years, 40 cities would be reached

PTI | March 8, 2011

Internet service provider Spectranet today said it will invest Rs 500 crore to expand its services across 50,000 wi-fi hotspots and reach over 5 million households in the country.

The company will raise Rs 250 crore through equity and an equal amount through debt.

"We are building India's largest Wi-Fi network across commercial and residential areas and see tremendous growth opportunity in this segment," said Spectranet managing director Udit Mehrotra.

Spectranet has deployed Wi-Fi network at over 1,000 hotspots across six metros Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Chennai and Hyderabad.

The company has also partnered with Aircel to offer high speed Internet access to Aircel customers on Wi-Fi.

Spectranet Wi-Fi service will be accessible to Aircel subscribers on all kinds of Wi-Fi enabled devices, including mobile phones, laptops and tablets.

As part of this partnership, Spectranet will deploy and manage core as well as access service infrastructure for Wi-Fi services which will enabling seamless authentication solution for both post-paid and pre-paid subscribers.

This service will enable seamless internet access for Aircel subscribers across Aircel GSM and 3G network and Spectranet Wi-Fi network.

The system allows mobile smartphone users to be automatically log in and out of Wi-Fi hotspots without having to enter username and password each time. The technology platform has been supplied by Indian operating and billing software solution vendor Inventum Technologies.

Spectranet said it is the first ever deployment of 2G and 3G mobile data offload to WiFi within India.

Spectranet currently offers its services in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata and Chandigarh and has plans to three more cities across India by end of this year.

"In next five years , we have plans to reach 40 cities across country," said Mehrotra.

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