Broadband
Broadband connectivity in gram panchayats to be completed by Mar ’19
NEW DELHI: Broadband connectivity will be provided under Phase-II of the BharatNet project to remaining 1,50.000 gram panchayats in the country using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre over power lines, radio and satellite media.
Communications minister Manoj Sinha said in the Parliament that this phase is targeted to be completed by March 2019.
Sinha said, according to information provided by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), there were 422.19 million broadband subscribers and the internet penetration (internet subscriber per 100 population) was 32.86% in the country as on 31 March 2017.
The National Telecom Policy-2012 envisages 600 million broadband connections by the year 2020, he said.
He said the Government had planned the BharatNet project to provide 100 Mbps broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats – approximately 2,20,000 in the country.
Under the first phase of the project, 100,000 Gram Panchayats are to be connected by laying underground Optical Fibre Cable (OFC) which is under implementation.
The Minister said that the provision of last mile access to the network and broadband service provisioning shall be through Wi-Fi or any other broadband access technologies in all 2,50,000 GPs in the country.
As on 23 July 2017, the status of implementation of BharatNet is:
No. of GPs where OFC laying is completed: 100,299 GPs
Optical Fibre Cable laid: 221,925 Kms
Broadband Connectivity provided in GPs: 25,426 GPs
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Broadband
ACT Fibernet elevates Aditya Singh to chief customer experience officer
Former senior vp to drive service, retention and delivery revamp
BENGALURU: ACT Fibernet has elevated Aditya Singh to chief customer experience officer, effective 1 January, 2026, as the broadband provider seeks to tighten its grip on service quality in an increasingly competitive market.
Singh, who previously served as senior vice-president – customer experience and loyalty at group level, will now join the executive committee and lead the company’s end-to-end customer transformation agenda.
The move gives him oversight of customer service, customer retention and service delivery, alongside a broader mandate to strengthen network resilience and field operations. The company said the reshuffle underlines its intent to deliver a “consistent, seamless and superior” experience to its 2.3m subscribers across more than 30 cities.
Headquartered in Bengaluru, ACT Fibernet, the consumer-facing brand of Atria Convergence Technologies Limited, is one of India’s largest wired internet service providers. It has built its pitch on high-speed connectivity and responsive customer support, at a time when fibre roll-outs and price wars are redrawing the broadband map.
In a statement, Singh said he was “deeply honoured” to take on the expanded brief and join the executive committee as the company sharpens its focus on simplifying customer touchpoints and turning subscribers into brand advocates.
The elevation signals a clear priority: in a crowded fibre market, customer experience is fast becoming the decisive battleground.
