ACT Fibernet denied that Reliance’s rumoured entry into wired broadband segment had any effect on their plans.

Hyderabad: In yet another of firsts, Hyderabad became the first city in India to have a one gbps internet connection as Bengaluru-based ACT Fibernet launched the plan here on Thursday.

Hyderabad, following the launch, joins an elite list of cities that provide such high-speed internet access as it attempts to evolve into a startup hub.

Speaking to this newspaper ahead of the launch, ACT CEO Bala Malladi, said, “With most companies focusing on IoT and animation, a high speed internet is a must to gain an advantage over rivals. Considering enterprise internet plans costs around Rs 4-5 lakhs per month, our plan will help startup slash their costs drastically and put their money into innovation.”

With the plan priced at Rs 5,999 per month, it will attract a lot of eyeballs but when quizzed about the rumoured entry of Reliance into wired broadband had any effect on their plans, Mr Malladi said: “Mr Ambani has his reputation but it had no effect on our plans. We had been closely following the global trends and decided to join in.”

On investment, he said: “The company has invested around Rs 100 crore in the past one and half years to upgrade the backend infrastructure. The company, funded by TrueNorth and TA Associates,  also has plans to invest Rs 1,200 crore in the next two years but has no plans to foray into new markets yet.”

Telangana IT minister K.T. Rama Rao, who inaugrated the plan, promised that the state government will soon avail the connection for its office as a part of its Digital Telangana plans.

Telangana IT secretary Jayesh Ranjan also announced that the city will soon have 3,000 wifi spots out of which 1000 of them will be handled by ACT.