Sterlite Technologies sharpens broadband research focus

Vedanta group telecom and power business, Sterlite Technologies together with IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur, announced multi-year fellowship programs and grants to encourage collaborative research in ultra-high speed broadband, at a conclave in Aurangabd on Thursday.

This is among the company's initiatives to sharpen its research focus on ultra-high speed broadband technologies at the conclave addressed by former President Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, where he inaugurated the company's Centre of Excellence.

To strengthen India's investments in broadband technology research, Sterlite also announced an annual seed fund of $100,000. This will be awarded to promising new Indian start-ups, working on innovative broadband deployment technologies. Agreements on collaborative research in ultra-high speed broadband were also signed with IIT Madras and IIT Kanpur today.

Commenting on the development, Dr. Anand Agarwal, CEO, Sterlite Technologies, said, ''Sterlite is uniquely positioned at the confluence of government's vision of Digital India, Make in India, and 100 Smart Cities, and the initiatives announced today are aimed at furthering India's broadband research muscle.

Having delivered over 40 per cent of India's fibre network, Sterlite is playing an integral role in National Broadband projects, as well as the backhauling of all data on 3G/4G/ fixed networks''.

Speaking at the vent, Dr. Kalam said, "My greetings to all of you for your research, development and production of optical fiber glass technology. I would urge all of you government, public and private institutions to evolve a road map to bring a high speed wifi access to villages in the combination of Fibre cable, Wi-Max, wi-fi and 3G/4G connectivity. My best wishes to all the members of Sterlite Limited in the mission of making the nation strong.''

"The Centre of Excellence is the only such facility in India dedicated to research and development of fibre-optic broadband technologies," Sterlite said in  a statement. "Spanning 35,000 sq. ft., it adjoins Sterlite's integrated 20-million km  optical fibre factory in Aurangabad."