Act Fibernet
Visual bookmarking platform Pinterest has been blocked by Internet service provider ACT Fibernet. We weren't able to access this site on an ACT Fibernet connection while other users have mentioned on Twitter that they are getting a note stating that the site has been blocked as per the instructions of the "competent government authority in compliance to the orders of Court of Law" An ACT Fibernet spokesperson told ETtech that they have blocked Pinterest following a Madras High Court order from July last year to block a list of around 225 sites that includes "illegal download websites, unsuitable content sites, torrent sites and few forum sites". "The order has been issued to all Internet Service Providers across India. The websites will remain blocked till we get further notification/order from the honourable High Court to activate these sites." the spokesperson said. We've reached out to Pinterest for a comment and will update once we hear back.In July 2016, Madras High Court had directed 169 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in an interim order to block 225 "rogue websites indulging in online piracy and infringement of copyright", following movie producer Kalaipuli S Thanu's petition seeking to block access to these websites. As per the judgement shared by ACT Fibernet, Pinterest is part of 225 "rogue websites" blocked to restrict any illegal downloads of Rajinikanthstarrer movie 'Kabali'. We weren't able to find the specific judgement at the time of writing this article. Why Pinterest? It's strange that Pinterest finds a mention in the list of 225 rogue websites, considering it is an online bulletin board and not a file sharing service or a video streaming service. That said, there has been several unexplainable website blocks due to court orders in the country over the past few years. This includes Google's file sharing service Google Docs and its URL shortener goo. gl, popular Image sharing site Imgur, code sharing service Github, software repository Sourceforge, text sharing site Pastebin, sports news site Bleacher Report and domain reseller BuyDomains among others. Hence, we believe there should be more transparency in how and why these blocks are instituted. There should also be some sort of recourse for website owners, in this case Pinterest, on how can they get the ban removed.
ALT Balaji enters into strategic partnership with ACT Fibernet
ALTBalaji, the digital platform of Balaji Telefilms has entered into a strategic partnership with ACT Fibernet, India's largest non-telco Internet Service Provider (ISP) and 3rd largest ISP to promote and
distribute its Subscription Video-OnDemand (SVOD) service. As part of the association, ACT Fibernet's customers will now be able to subscribe to ALTBalaji's SVOD service as part of their broadband package and pay for the service through a unified bill every month. To subscribe, users can visit ACT Fibernet's website (www.actcorp. in) and select ALTBalaji as a valueadded service. Through the single subscription, customers will be able to stream exclusive content on over five screens, including television, web and mobile and has integration with Chromecast amongst others. Nachiket Pantvaidya, CEO of ALT Digital Media Entertainment said, "Globally, entertainment video content multiplies broadband usage. ALTBalaji will exclusively offer more than 250 hours of premium and original digital content in the first year itself. We are confident that our unique and exclusive shows will increase broadband usage for ACT Fibernet. At the same time, it will allow users to avail our rich content with ease as part of their monthly broadband pack. The alliance is symbiotic and allows both companies to derive value from their inherent strengths." Balaji Telefilms is India’s leading integrated media conglomerate with market leadership in the motion picture and television content industries, among other entertainment-led businesses.
ACT Fibernet increases internet speeds and FUP in Chennai
With the newly upgraded plans, ACT Fibrenet customers will now be able to access uninterrupted and high speed internet services at no additional costs to meet entertainment, business and utility service requirements. Pioneer in Giga enabling for entire India, ACT Fibernet recently upgraded internet plans for customers in the city of Chennai. ACT Fibernet has upgraded its ACT Blaze Plan to 75mbps with 100 GB FUP (100 GB up + 100 GB down) making the starting speeds of 75Mbps in Chennai fastest across all markets. ACT Thunder Plan now has 100 Mbps speeds and 225 GB FUP (225Gb up + 225 GB down) and the ACT Incredible Plan now boasts of incredible 150 Mbps speeds and 350 GB FUP all at no extra cost. Speaking on the upgraded plans, Mr. Bala Malladi, CEO, Atria Convergence Technologies Pvt Ltd commented, “At ACT Fibernet, our philosophy is to offer exceptional speeds and FUP to our customers. Chennai is an important market where we have grown in the last few years and we continue to strive to offer the best to our customers. Bala added, Our new plans will open up new possibilities such as entertainment demands through 4k and HD movies /TV series downloads as well as in professional work environments” Atria Convergence Technologies provides fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) broadband services to a strong customer base of 1.2 million registered customers in the country.
ACT Fibernet Launches 1 Gbps Fiber Opticsbacked Broadband in Hyderabad
Bengaluru - based ACT (Atria Convergence Technologies) Fibernet, with a customer base of 1.2 million and currently the largest non-telco ISP in India has earned the distinction of being the first to roll out 1 Gbps broadband Internet in the entire city of Hyderabad. The announcement was made in Hyderabad at a glittering press conference in the presence of Shri. K. Taraka Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Municipal Administration and Industries. The fiber optics technology typically takes between 18-24 months to be laid out across a city and is devoid of any wireless technologies or protocols during the transit path from its source to last-mile connectivity. The other great advantage with fiber optics technology is that while copper cabling reaches its broadband threshold at 100 Mbps, sky is the limit as far as broadband speeds through fiber optic
cables are concerned. This launch also catapults India into the league of top 7-8 countries in the world to have such a service. Why Hyderabad first? Hyderbad has the highest internet penetration amongst all Indian cities. An average Internet user in Hyderabad consumes about 75 GB data each month, which is much higher than any other city in the rest of India. Also, this launch is aligned with the Digital Telangana initiative of the state government which intends to open 3,000 hotspots across the city of Hyderabad. Out of these 1,000 hotspots shall be developed and maintained by ACT Fibernet. On a lighter vein, Bala Malladi, CEO, ACT Fibernet comes from Hyderabad, so his vision and support has been instrumental in the layout of optical fiber network much faster than any other city in India. As part of the fiber optics network, 40,000 kms of optical fiber has been deployed across the length and breadth of Hyderabad. Post this launch, ACT Fibernet has now set its sights on the cities of Bengaluru, Chennai and Delhi in North India, amongst others. When the average internet speeds in India is 2.5 Mbps, ACT Fibernet’s 1 Gbps launch will leapfrog Hyderabad internet speeds to 400x national average. Why 1Gpbs is really insane Imagine being able to download a 3.5 gig movie in 41 seconds flat! Yes, this is what we experienced at the ACT demo center. As compared to this, the best available broadband in Delhi at present does the same task in four and a half minutes at 100 Mbps speeds. It could be safe to conclude that 1Gbps speed allows downloads from the internet faster than transferring data from a USB drive. ACT Fibernet is the largest broadband provider in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad with over 65% market share. As part of the changes to the customer premises, only the last 60-70 metres of the cable needs to be changed from copper to the sleek optical fiber cables. These cables come in the form of a twin pair with one cable dedicated to upload data while the other is dedicated to download. Also, this offering from ACT Fibernet offers both downloads and uploads at 1Gbps, given the importance attached to uploading videos on social media accounts. Speaking on the launch Bala Malladi, CEO, ACT Fibernet said, “With our citizens and the government moving towards the Digital India movement, high speed internet is the need of the hour. With the launch of our 1 Gbps broadband internet service, it gives me immense pride to turn this dream into reality. The city of Hyderabad is apt for our maiden launch as it has some ofthe best technology brands, educational institutions and a vibrant economy.” Bala further added, “We are confident this product will transform the way internet is now being consumed at large and this will fast track the government’s newest target to connect all its 23 million Telangana residents through the Internet by 2018”. Speaking at the launch, Honourable Minister for IT, Municipal Administration and Urban development and Industries, K. Taraka Rama Rao said, “I am extremely pleased to be present here and witness the historic launch of 1Gbps broadband internet service for an entire city in the country. It is my vision to connect our residents through high speed internet and I am sure this product from ACT Fibernet will further help fulfil my vision of making Telangana a tech and digitally advancedhub” India is the second largest market globally with internet connectivity reaching over 400 million people. With the government’s constant and fervent efforts to internet enable cities, internet penetration is set to reach over 600 million users by 2020. Additionally, the government’s recent announcement to boost high-speed broadband via optic Fiber to 1,50,000 gram Panchayats will further receive support through initiatives such as ACT Fibernet’s and its contribution to the country’s digital growth. ACT Fibernet’s 1 Gbps wired internet service is slated to soon be available in the 11 cities the company has presence in. ACT Fibernet plans to invest Rs 1,000 crore towards across India over the next two years. The product is currently available in Hyderabad for INR 5999 per month, 1 Gbps , 1TB FUP. Please check the website www.actcorp.in for further details.