BANGALORE: ACT Television, a multi-service provider funded by IVFA (India Value Fund Advisors), is an in-home entertainment, education and interactive services company offering digital TV, cable TV, IPTV and broadband. Kirti Simha, business head (IPTV and Broadband), ACT Television, speaks to Vyas Sivanand about their broadband service and how it is different from prevailing broadband services in the market.
Broadband services are offered by multiple service providers. How different is the service you provide to consumers?
We provide home broadband service through fibres. Delivery of internet service through fibre optic technology is an optimised delivery process. This technology is designed specifically for internet delivery. Until now, all broadband services were offered either by telecom or cable companies, who used their existing infrastructure facilities to provide broadband services. However, with the growth in demand for broadband, there are new technologies which are specifically designed for it. For example, we have recently rolled out a 10Mbps broadband connection exclusively for our retail customers.
How are you able to provide these speeds when others in the market are offering only 2 Mbps or 5 Mbps?
We give the connection through a fibre optic cable that sends signals through light. If you are using a copper connection, especially the most prevalent technology today called Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), it enables you to download at a certain speed. But the upload happens at a very slow speed. When using a fibre optic cable, there is no difference in the download and upload speed. Furthermore, signals through copper lines have distance limitations and need to be amplified every few hundred meters or so unlike signals sent through fibre optic cables that can travel vast distances without any loss of quality.
Is this cutting edge technology very expensive?
This is indeed cutting edge technology. However, contrary to popular belief, the service we offer is more competitive in pricing when compared to the existing copper-based connection. Also, we give a much higher download limit, commonly referred to as Fair Usage Policy (FUP). For example, if you go to any service provider, you will have a limit of 10 GB or 15 GB a month, beyond which the speed usually drops to a 256 kbps. Our FUP is 50 GB and after you touch the FUP, you will still enjoy a speed of 512 kbps.