Broadband
National Optic Fibre Network cost escalates by Rs 10,000 crore
NEW DELHI: A total of 97,480 km of National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN) is planned in the first phase out of the total envisaged – 244,729 km – in 36 states and union territories in the country.
The government had set a budget of Rs 20,000 crore for the project, but Ministry sources informed Indiantelevision.com that the cost had already escalated to Rs 30,000 crore.
Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told the Parliament that work was at various stages in all the planned regions.
The NOFN aims to connect all Gram Panchayats in the country through optical fibre cable (OFC) by bridging the connectivity gap between Gram Panchayats and Blocks for providing broadband.
Meanwhile, the number of fibre to the home (FTTH) and fibre to the building (FTTB) subscribers in Europe has soared, increasing by 50 per cent over the 12 months ending December 2014, according to the latest update to the FTTH Ranking announced at a press conference held at the FTTH Conference in Warsaw.
There are now nearly 15 million FTTH/B subscribers in the European continent (14.5 million) – not including Russia and the Ukraine, which would add a further 14.8 million homes to the total (Source: FTTH market panorama prepared by IDATE for FTTH Council Europe).
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.
