ACT Fibernet adds cities in A.P., NCR, as home broadband growth outpaces telecom

Home internet provider ACT Fibernet announced on June 12 that it was expanding service to more towns and neighbouring districts of existing markets.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Class-A internet service provider (ISP) said it has launched services in Machilipatnam (expanding from existing market Guntur), Bhimavaram and Tadepalligudem (near Eluru and Rajamahendravaram).

The ISP also expanded to Ghaziabad, its first market in the National Capital Region outside of Delhi. In Tamil Nadu, ACT expanded to Kanchipuram, adding to markets like Chennai, Coimbatore and Madurai. This brings the company’s overall presence to 30 cities and towns.

While 5G coverage has expanded across nearly all districts, following an aggressive push by Bharti Airtel Ltd. and Reliance Jio, home broadband providers continue to expand only gradually. Data by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) show that as of March, there were 4 crore wired internet subscribers in India, compared to 88.3 crore mobile internet users. However, at 1.5% month-on-month growth, wireline subscriptions are outpacing a saturated wireless market.

ACT has 2.2 million users, and is the largest residential ISP that is not owned by a big-3 telecom provider or the government. Rajesh Chharia, the president of the ISP Association of India, told The Hindu that private home broadband providers are cautious about capital expenditure (such as laying cables) in new markets, leading small as well as large ISPs to focus on population centres with high density.

This allows them to earn more revenue from less physical infrastructure, Mr. Chharia said.