The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has granted a unified internet service provider (ISP) licence to Quadrant Televentures, the telecom arm of Videocon Group in the Punjab circle. With the Category-A ISP permit, Quandrant Televentures will be able to provide internet services across the country.
According to the Videocon Group, the company will roll-out internet services through the newly granted ISP licence in the circles where it already has the licence to provide telecom services. In this regard, it is planning to invest over Rs 3.40 billion in the next one year for the rollout of ISP services in its six to seven circles. The investment shall include the cost of the ISP license, cost of network deployment and investment in hotspots among other expenditures. It believes that the roll-out will support its 4G service which is expected to be launched in 2015.
Further, it is planning to prioritise its ISP rollout starting with its existing circles including Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh including Chhattisgarh, and then move to the metro cities. Among some of the benefits by prioritising rollout of ISP in its operational mobility circles are in terms of infrastructure sharing, synergy on its existing and strong sales and distribution network, cost factor and value-addition for customers in terms of 4G offload to Wi-Fi for its mobility subscribers eventually.
Earlier, the company was providing internet services only in the Punjab circle under the Category-B ISP License granted by DoT.
Arvind Bali, Director and Chief Executive Officer, Videocon Telecom said, ?We are an integrated telecom player, and we are expanding our footprint. Internet is the next big thing in India, and the opportunity is immense. In order to capitalize on the same, we plan to prioritise rollout of ISP services in our existing operational mobility circles followed by metros and other tier-I cities. 4G offload of our mobility services to Wi-Fi will be an added advantage for us in the times to come. We plan to invest over Rs 3.40 billion on this venture within next one year, and owing to our experience in Punjab, where are successfully running broadband business under the brand name ?Connect?, we are confident that we will make it big.?
