Spark Broadband: Smart Services for Smarter People Date:   Sunday , November 23, 2014 Imagine our idiot box where we watch our programs on appointment basis going smart and tech-savvy. Imagine us not having to wait to watch our favorite programs on their scheduled time but whenever we want, i.e., on-demand. Envisage the freedom from confusing plans thrown to we subscribers. Imagine a single device that becomes a gateway to the multiple devices that we own. Imagine a world of where we become smart users of our smart devices. This is precisely what a two-year old startup Spark Broadband has been doing since inception. It is disrupting the cable TV gamut with its extensively feature-rich ISP solutions. This integrated services provider through broadband is a one-stop-shop for any home\'s interactive entertainment, communication and education requirements. The company offers data, voice and video services to its subscribers through its unique product packaging and offerings which has enabled it to touch the needs of the end subscribers. In an environment where competitors are focusing more on speed as their tool to attract subscribers, Spark has moved ahead in enhancing its service/ product portfolio through packaged offerings to cater to the needs of the subscribers. \"It requires anything between 6 Mbps to 8 Mbps throughput at customer level to seamlessly deliver HD content and anything beyond it is just a marketing gimmick with very little relevance to the end subscribers. The company today has standard 10 Mbps plans which can be easily scaled up to 100 Mbps as the market demands. We at spark believe in working on service enablers that can consume that kind of capacity,\" says Balkrishna Singh, COO, Spark Broadband..Spark is innovative in its packaging with offerings like \"Ek connection Double Dhamaal, the plan offers a subscriber a 10 Mbps wired connection to the subscribers and 3G data card for high speed consumption on the move. For the offering Spark has tied up with Reliance and Airtel. As part of its packaged offerings Spark also offers its customer Mobile and PC antivirus for which it has partnered with F Secure. Spark broadband is India\'s first company to use Ethernet over Co-axial as a technology for the last mile and GePON on the access network.The technology enables Spark to leverage the existing well laid last mile cable networks across India, thereby shortening time to market. With its 1 Gig capacity at each building/aggregation level and 100 Mbps capacity at each subscriber level, the technology takes care of the scalability required to launch multiple integrated service. \"The robustness and manageability of the technology creates an environment to provide a high speed reliable service which has been missing in the sector. The use of technology makes us FTTH ready and we can move to an FTTH environment when the market is ready and need arises with minimal investment. The ease, with which we can scale our capacity, is a big challenge for competing technologies. It\'s avery big challenge for the Telco\'s on 3G and 4G infrastructure to have similar throughput capacities at the last mile,\" says Ketan Thakker, CTO, Spark Broadband. The company focuses in creating service enablers and a platform that consumes that pipe size and increase the subscriber\'s consumption while providing solutions to their entertainment, education and Communication needs. Spark has launched its most innovative next-gen service under the brand name Spark Wonder Services. The service is powered by an Android smartbox which would create a platform for multiple OTT providers to offer their service. The device also intends to bridge the gap of PC penetration in tier 2 and 3 towns as the device can also act as basic computing/networking device by connecting to any kind of television. This will help consumers start consuming more of video traffic through the box itself. Surendran along with other top management personnel including Ketan Thakker, Balkrishna Singh and Harish Patil have over a century of cumulative relevant work experience.. Its ground relationship, technology and product/service offerings set the company much ahead from the competition. To do so, Spark invests heavily in providing effective training and development interventions to identify competency gaps. Its in-house on the job projects train employees to polish their skill set and develop next generation leaders. \"We have been able to make deep inroads in the market, due to our long standing and strong relationship with the cable operators. We enjoy the trust of the fraternity, which clearly reflects in our success so far. We have been very well supported by our vendors in keeping us abreast with the latest technology changes and with experience of Ketan and his network of vendors, the help is just a call away,\" says Surendran Nair, CEO Spark Broadband. Spark works only on B2C model. The company has plans to soon expand its base from Mumbai to Pune and Nasik and intends to roll out operations in 32 cities across India in a phase-wise manner in the next 3-5 years horizon. Panel: Offerings: Data, Voice and Video services, and Wonderbox Offices:Mumbai (Headquarter) Key Management: Surendran Nair, CEO Surendran has over two decades of experience in the media and entertainment industry. Prior to Spark Broadband, he was the Senior VP with Digicable Network. Balkrishna Singh, COO With over 8 years of experience in strategy, operations management and investor relations in Media, Entertainment and Broadband industry, Balkrishna was the Business Head of Digicable Broadband business and strategy lead for the Digicable Group. Ketan Thakker, CTO Ketan has over 22 years of rich experience in the Media and Entertainment industry. Prior to Spark, he was the VP-Network Infrastructure responsible for the all India fibre asset for the Digicable group.