United Telecom, a Bangalore based telecom company contracted by the Indian authorities to build out an advanced broadband network in the tourist hub state of Goa, will be offering triple play services in the state including IPTV. UTStarcom won the equipment contract that includes VoIP, IPTV, and GEPON gear - the whole lot.
United Telecom is itself a vendor supplying optical networking components to service providers like BSNL. And although Reliance and BSNL have already laid out broadband networks in Goa, United Telecom’s footprint is all fiber. In fact it has already laid out majority of the FTTH network in the state.
IPTV in India has not picked up pace. United Telcom reckons it is the poor last mile infrastructure. And since they have fiber in place, the company expects their IPTV service to be a major success. The service will not be restricted to the residential segment only. United Telecom also expects tourist places and hotels to sign up for interactive IPTV services.
The triple play package is priced at Rs.522/month ($13) and includes VoIP, IPTV, and a 2-10 Mbps connection. Goa has a population of 1.4 million. Broadband penetration is around 28 per 1000 citizens. PC penetration stands at 60% of the population.
United Telecom is investing $100 million in the overall project. It will initially target 100,000 customers for its IPTV services.