Sterlite Tech, a company owned by Vedanta Resources has stepped into the telecom network market after making its name in the fibre manufacturing segment. The company has made its foray into the sector by presenting a Proof of Concept (PoC) for its latest product as Reliance Jio’s solution for last mile connectivity. In its statement to ET, group chief executive of Sterlite Tech said, “We are looking beyond fibre. We now design end-to-end network solutions for fibre-to-the-home, fibre-to-the-enterprise, and fibre-to-the-small cells.”
The executive further added that the company would not only cater to fibre but would also provide end equipment, software and deployment solution to the telco. Notably, Sterlite tech is based out of Pune and is right now engaged in the work of making a proof of concept of Fibre to the last mile or FFTx as a service platform for the Mukesh Ambani led telco.
Sterlite Ventures in Designing and Building Networks
He further added that the company would focus more on the access part of telecom networks in which the application of fibre is increasing day by day owing to the open source hardware and software. As per his statement, the easy availability of these hardware and software resources has resulted in the present scenario of network management.
Another thing which has worked in favour of the company is its merger with Elitecore Technologies in 2015 which has positioned it to market Operations Support Services (OSS) and Business Support Services (BSS) solutions to telecom giants in the Indian market. However, now the company has also arrived on the turf to compete with the likes of Cisco, Amdocs, Ciena and Juniper Networks and even, Huawei, Ericsson and Nokia.
As per the described work, the giant is involved in catering to the optic fibre infrastructure, Wi-Fi systems, software services, in-building solutions, managed services and Ethernet network services to the telcos. As per a top executive, the company designs and deploys network solutions for the telecom operators. Besides, Sterlite is also working with the former market leader, Bharti Airtel and the other telecom giant, Vodafone Idea on a pilot project.
Agrawal further said about this new development, “For Jio’s 1,100 cities and 50 million homes, fibre is the key, and for doing that, the execution plays a major role, and a part of our solutions work towards faster execution together with our hardware capability.”
Sterlite to Power Reliance Jio's Goals
With its fibre based solutions, Sterlite is looking forward to powering Reliance Jio’s audacious goals of connecting many cities with the help of its Reliance Jio GigaFiber service which will bring FTTH, router, set top box and content services to the subscribers. Further, the telecom wing of the Mukesh Ambani led company is looking to expand to 1,500 cities to bring 30 million merchants and small and medium business owners under its subscriber base.
Analysts have also affirmed the ongoings in the two industries saying that the partnership between these two Indian companies is undoubtedly bound to bolster growth in the fibre sector. Further, Reliance Jio has expressed its willingness to take India in the top three spot, when it comes to fixed-line-broadband services. The partnership would also be in line with Modi’s Make in India initiative, the analysts remarked.
Sterlite has also reported that the production of fibre has now doubled on the back of a brimming order book with the current capacity being 50 million route kilometre (rkm). The company had also reported a revenue of Rs 3,244 crore for the FY ending in March 2018.
The officials of the fibre manufacturing giant have also expressed interest in the government’s push for Wi-Fi, rural, connectivity and fibre. The executive also said that the company would explore holistic opportunities as telcos venture into rural areas, bringing all these services to a much larger pool of potential customers. As per an ET report, 48% of its revenue comes from the global business while the year on year rate of growth, according to Agrawal’s statement is currently 29% for the company. The company has also recently bagged the contract worth Rs 3,500 by the Indian Navy to design, build, operate and maintain its digital network.
