The number of internet subscribers in India has increased by more than 50 percent over the span of a year. As on March 2016, the number of internet subscribers in India stands at 1497 lakhs as opposed to just 992 lakhs in March 2015. This has opened up a huge market with prodigious opportunities for capitalization. From among numerous players in the market, what makes Gigatel Networks, a New Delhi based internet service provider, different from other fiber internet providers is its ability to take the fiber cable to the customer premises, even to the last mile, at a competitive price but at high speed and unlimited data usage. Kunal Bhutani, Managing Director, Gigatel Networks,states, “We are trying to increase our coverage area with our own underground fiber, though the process of laying the fiber optic cables underground is time consuming and requires huge capital”.

The company with a Category B license provides Internet solutions to homes and institutions through FTTH (Fiber To The Home) broadband with plans crafted on Internet speed and data usage with

speed from 10Mbps to 100Mbps. Leveraging technologies like IPV6 ready, the company provides fast and reliable broadband services in South Delhi through FTTH on GPON (Gigabit Passive Optical Network) and the customers have the privilege to choose from Hotspot/Wi-Fi plans based on either data usage or time duration. The company’s core transport, aggregation and access network architecture is built using multiple technologies – FTTH, MPLS and wireless. “The marketing team does a thorough background and profile check of prospective clients to understand their requirements and provide a customized solution for them,” states Kunal.

Gigatel has a workforce of experienced professionals working towards providing the best internet connectivity to its customers through first time set-up to after-sales support

Gigatel has a workforce of experienced professionals working towards providing the best internet connectivity to its customers through first time set-up to after-sales support. The technical support engineers proactively deals with complaints and queries rising from clients to provide hassle free solution for all internet related issues in a single phone call. In addition to a self-care portal for customers, the company also has an Android App to help

customers change their existing plan, view their usage, pay their monthly bill or raise complaint/query tickets with the touch of a few buttons. Its 99.5 percent up time guarantee ensured by 24x7 NOC monitoring has quickly garnered positive responses not only from house hold users but even businesses whose functionalities almost depend on fast and seamless internet connectivity. Launched a month ago, Gigatel’s leased line services are attracting businesses eyeballs.

The company owns and operates intracity fiber network of over 30 KMs, connecting Delhi NCR. Nearly 95 percent of Kalkaji, Alaknanda, Lajpat Nagar-IV and East of Kailash are covered by its network of underground fiber. It provides last mile delivery over fiber scalable to Gbps levels with a symmetric and dedicated bandwidth.

Trends, Challenges & the Journey Forward

Despite the Jio launch that almost disrupted the internet service market, Gigatel’s revenue has increased tremendously through new and customized offers. The Gigatel team consider themselves an important part of the Prime Minister Modi’s dream of moving towards a digitalized economy, and plan to actualize this by providing top-notch internet facilities to urban households and by reaching a wider audience. The company’s next move is to cover the whole of Delhi with its own underground fibre, giving the best possible uptime to the customers and interconnecting different businesses for their growth.