Sterlite has entered the telecom segment by a slew of activities – partnerships and acquisitions, launching of new fibre and bagging state-run projects
Pune-based fibre manufacturer, Sterlite Technologies has bagged Maharashtra’s MahaNet project, a broadband network deal worth Rs.1512 crores to establish a connection in more than 4000 villages across eight districts in the state.
MahaNet Project
The MahaNet project is a part of the state’s BharatNet-II initiative that aims to benefit around 7.5 million people. Sterlite has said in a statement that around 4,045 Gram panchayats or village blocks would be connected through the programme. The homegrown manufacturer, in October, had won another contract by Indian Navy. The Rs. 3,500 crores contract was awarded to Sterlite to design, create, operate and maintain a digital network for the Indian Navy
Partnership with Jio
Sterlite has partnered with Reliance Jio to run a Proof of Concept (PoC) for its newly-launched fibre, FTTx. The company, with this partnership, has officially forayed into the telecom network market with its integrated telecom services. The new fibre or massive agile network transformation aims to provide fibre-powered backhauling and boost 4G besides supporting the timely rollout of 5G network.
FTTx is considered as the key to Jio Giga-Fiber, a broadband network that is aimed to connect Jio’s 1,100 cities and 50 million homes. The network further aims to connect 30 million merchants and small and medium businesses.
Anand Agarwal, chief executive, Sterlite, said that the firm’s focus was to provide telecom network accessibility with open source hardware and software readily available for network management. Sterlite wants to tap into the upcoming opportunities related to Wi-Fi hotspots by 2019.
Sterlite’s recent acquisition of Elitecore, a software and internet solutions provider, is also considered as a support in entering the telecom segment.
