With 1 Gbps net, Bengaluru joins league of super-fast cities

The city on Wednesday joined an elite league of cities across the world enjoying Internet speeds of up to 1 GB per second.

ACT Fibernet, which launched the service, said it had brought Bengaluru on a par with Seoul, Hong Kong, Singapore and cities in the US. Bengaluru is the second city in India, after Hyderabad, to step up to this speed.

"The company expects entrepreneurs and small office-home office (SOHO) users to subscribe to the service, available for Rs 5,999," Bala Malladi, Atria Convergence Technologies CEO, told reporters.

He said the service would help startups in the areas of augmented reality, virtual reality and Internet of Things (IoT).

With 1.25 million broadband customers, ACT Fibernet ranks third among wired Internet service providers in India, after state-run BSNL and Bharti Airtel.

Customers can register for six months and get a month free, and for 12 months and two months free.

Existing customers can upgrade to the Giga plan, as ACT calls it, for an installation fee of Rs 2,500. New customers pay Rs 5,000.

Another monthly plan, aimed at small and medium-sized enterprises, comes at Rs 15,000.

At the launch at Vidhana Soudha, Priyank Kharge, Karnataka IT minister, said the service would strengthen Bengaluru's position as a truly global city.