Cable IPTV player VNet Picks Alepo to enter FTTH market

In response to increasing post-pandemic data demands, Indian cable television provider VNet has entered the fiber broadband market as an internet service provider (ISP). In addition to attracting new customers, the service provider is also drawing from its existing customer base of 1.6 million cable TV subscribers.

Launched in May, the high-speed service will be available in the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. In addition to direct subscribers that VNet has already begun onboarding in the system, the operator’s affiliates, including 20 multi-system operators (MSOs) and over 4,000 local cable operators (LCOs), have also been migrated. The system now has around 50K subscribers.

VNet has introduced a range of combo plans and IPTV upgrade offers for its cable TV customers, as well as offering device add-ons that let customers enjoy broadband using their existing televisions. VNet is working on plans to use this platform to eventually upgrade all their cable TV subscribers to IPTV.

Alepo has deployed its fixed broadband solution, including key modules for affiliate management, digital BSS, CRM, billing, AAA, data monetization, voucher management, product catalog, IPoE notification portal, and more. The deployment lets VNet carry out all BSS/OSS operations such as customer onboarding through affiliates, provisioning, service activation, maintaining the customer lifecycle, billing and invoicing, and enabling 24x7 customer support through web and mobile self-care.

Affiliates will be able to directly onboard customers through the Alepo CRM, and a payment gateway integration in the web and mobile self-care will enable customers to pay online for the services they purchase.

Alepo has developed customizations to accommodate the operator’s IPoE subscribers who were unable to access the service, ensuring that they are authenticated and redirected to the captive portal. These subscribers can seamlessly access the network after a one-time login using their credentials. The system also equips the affiliates with a custom feature that enables them to track which customers are online and terminate sessions when needed.

“Our goal is to provide reliable cutting-edge services at competitive prices and to emerge as a trusted name in the region’s fiber broadband market. Through this new service, our customers enjoy high-speed fiber internet in their homes, especially relevant given the ongoing cultural shift to working from home. Alepo is our vendor of choice as it has a rich track record of fiber broadband successes. As we enter the ISP market, we are confident that Alepo’s solution will enable us to swiftly realize ROI and fully monetize our network offerings,” said R. Srinivasa Raju, Director, VNet.

Prabhakar Kakarakayala, VP-Client Relations, Alepo, said, “Our fixed broadband solution is designed to optimize ISP business functions, enabling VNet to rapidly introduce modern and advanced plans. With our affiliate and reseller modules, VNet can easily manage operations with its large number of partners to scale the sale of its services.”