Broadband Service provider ACT has 1.2 million customers
Bengaluru based ACT (Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt. Ltd Company), It has 1.2 million customers. It had revenue of over Rs 1,000 crore within the last financial year. it's profitable. And consistent with some, it'd even be a imaginary being, a private company valued at a billion dollers or a lot of.
ACT started in Bengaluru back in 2000 as a cable TV service supplier. Today, it's one amongst the country’s largest wired broadband service provider. ACT says it’s the third biggest, once BSNL and Airtel.
Cable TV and broadband could be a robust business, even in India's metros. In Bengaluru, as in alternative cities, it's run principally by local providers, usually with the blessings of local politicians. therefore corporate players who enter the business are often forced to pay them a commission of up to 10% on every connection. Even then, it's common to own wires being cut by the local players, and police usually acting helpless.
ACT wasn't proof against this. Asked regarding it, the corporate aforementioned it doesn't wish to debate the matter. however it acknowledged that this was the explanation why it's still not gift in several elements of the town.
"This was one amongst the explanations we have a tendency to didn't enter HSR Layout until a year past. Our plan was to remain clean and clear," says Bala Malladi, chief executive of ACT. Despite such challenges, the corporate currently includes a presence in 11 cities across the south, and in Old Delhi. From 100 workers and 45,000 customers in 2008, the year it entered the internet broadband area, it nowadays has 6,500 workers and 1.2 million customers.
ACT was founded by Sunder Raju, a technology skilled with a Masters’ degree in computer science from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He was a key player in fitting Sunray Computers in 1981, and later helped found the Atria group in Bengaluru.
When ACT set to maneuver into broadband and IPTV in 2008, private equity firm True North (then known as India Value Fund Advisors - IVFA) came in as investors. The Rs 300 crore funding was accustomed produce the digital TV and broadband business and to acquisition many local cable and broadband players across south India. In 2015, IVFA, beside private equity firm TA Associates, invested with $500 million. "Sunder needed to form this a contemporary skilled company. there have been not several union players for investors during this sector," says Malladi, who joined post the funding in 2008.
For Mr. Bala Malladi, who previously worked with Hindustan Unilever (HUL) for 15 years, this was a giant shift. He was managing the supplying and back-end operations of HUL's food business, price $500 million. once he moved to ACT, it had revenue of simply Rs 15 crore. "It was a giant risk however an area wherever I may create a distinction. it absolutely was like associate entrepreneurial assignment, where I had to look at every single issue including HR, tax and legal," he says.
ACT invested with heavily in infrastructure and technology. It offered lower costs for an equivalent speeds and knowledge use compared to a number of the opposite leading players. And its transfer and transfer speeds were an equivalent.
But Mr. Bala Malladi (CEO) says its success has been to an excellent extent thanks to client service. It conducts a diligent client satisfaction survey whenever a brand new client comes on board and additionally once there's a difficulty that has to be resolved. The business heads prepare a daily client satisfaction report that's sent to Malladi.
The company has full-grown on an average by 35% in each of the past 5 years. it's trying to grow pan-India within the next few years. It started creating profits solely in late 2013. Malladi admits the primary 5 years were robust. "But not once did we have a tendency to pay our workers their regular payment even every day late," says Malladi.
