Radius Infra Eyes Global FTTH Market

Radius Infratel Pvt., which builds, runs and delivers services over fiber-to-the-home access networks in partnership with telecom operators such as Bharti Airtel Ltd., is ready to expand into international markets and is prepared to invest heavily to make its name overseas.

The company has earmarked INR 5 billion (US$111.3 million) in the current financial year for its international expansion and to strengthen the R&D (research and development) part of its business.

The company, however, did not disclose which specific international markets it's targeting, though it seems it may be staying relatively close to home.

"At the moment I would just say that wherever customers have evolved, there is a definite case [for] fiber-to-the-home. Asia is of prime importance to us [we] believe this is the right time to invest in markets like Asia where new policies are being formed to push fiber-to-the-home broadband," says the company's CEO Rajnish Wahi, CEO of Radius Infratel.

Radius bases its operational model around the deployment of its Neutral Access Network Operations (NANO) solution, which comprises GPON-based equipment from a vendor partner and its own service management and delivery software that enables the provision of IP-based voice, broadband and video services, plus multiple value-added services, to end users.

According to Radius Infratel, its unified last mile solution is designed to simultaneously carry all IP-based services from multiple service providers (triple play and VAS), building management services (like intercom, surveillance feed, access control) and other customer specific applications like home automation and much more to each household on a single strand of fiber.

While the company is in talks with several vendors, it has already sourced FTTH access equipment from Ericsson AB that can connect 600,000 homes, with the deployment of that equipment expected to be completed by 2013. The company isn't currently saying how many homes it has connected, or how many connections are in commercial use. (See .)

Besides its global ambitions, Radius continues to expand in its domestic market. "We are opening our offices in Mumbai and Punjab," says the CEO.

Wahi, however, feels that although the FTTH model has gained acceptance in India, the ecosystem is not yet well developed in the country. "It's a nascent industry right now," and there is a need to create awareness about the potential benefits of FTTH, adds the CEO.

Jatinder Singh, Principal Correspondent, Light Reading India