Spectranet to invest Rs 100 cr for expansion

Spectranet, the optical fibre broadband service provider, plans to invest about Rs 100 crore over the next 18 months to strengthen its presence in multiple cities it operates in.
The company has, however, ruled out a listing in the next 3-5 years as it seeks to maintain its focus on "growing and building the business".
"We are looking to invest Rs 100 crore in 18 months for building connectivity and in access infrastructure. We will expand within the cities that we are already present in...The money will be invested in going into more areas, being able to connect more customers, both business and residential," Udit Mehrotra, CEO of Spectranet told PTI.

The investment would also be infused into network upgrades and laying down more fibre. The entire expenditure would be supported from the company's internal accruals and debt, he added.
"Obviously as more and more customers use 100 Mbps and beyond, we need to continue to invest in upgrading our infrastructure within the city and in our core locations," he said.
Over the last one year, the company has focused closely on customers' likes and preferences.

"We have been looking at how we are going to deliver excellent quality of experience. Now, that we have understood customer preferences, the next 18 months will go into taking that experience to more and more customers and in execution of our strategy," he said.

Asked if the company plans to go public in near future, Mehrotra said, "At this juncture, we are not planning to go to the market to raise equity. Listing is not even on our mind right now."
"The current broadband market in our country is still a small market, although the numbers are set to grow faster. What is more important for us is, that of the total broadband connections, hardly anything is on fibre. So, we are focused right now on growing and building our business, given the opportunity. These are growing years for us," he said.
With headquarters in Gurgaon, the company's fibre network presence is currently spread across eight major cities including Delhi, Noida, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Pune.