No matter how much the telecom operators boast of their high speed mobile internet, a Delhi based startup might be the game changer in the data ambit. Speed Fetch, which has tied up with WiFi networks provider Ozone Networks, is providing free downloadable video content at speeds up to 60 Mbps. As per a news report by The Economic Times, this is quite high compared to what any 3G or 4G network can offer.
Just as an instance, a 100 MB video needs 9 minutes to be downloaded in 3G network. And with Speed Fetch, it takes barely 30 seconds.
The ET reports, while the company promises speeds up to 60 Mbps in ideal situations, executives said actual speeds can vary between 15 and 30 Mbps depending on the customer's location, signal strength at that location and the number of people using WiFi network at that time.
"Speed and free content sSpeed Fetch apart," founder Dipank Sharma, who launched the app two months ago, has told the financial daily. "It works through micro-caching where content resides on a Speed Fetch box, in a WiFi hotspot location, which allows for faster downloads. Since the download is via WiFi, the content is free of charge," said Sharma, who has invested $2 million in the startup till date.
Caching refers to storing web files for quick reuse later. "These speeds are real, but the challenge is the backhaul - fibre in the ground and backbone network - which requires a lot of capital investment (from WiFi provider)," said Prashant Singhal, global telecom practice head at consulting firm EY.
Ozone's WiFi zones allow users to download the content provided by Speed Fetch for free for a day regardless of the usage. However, consumers will have to pick up hourly, daily or weekly data usage packs after the first 20 minutes, in case they want to use the internet. Sharma is in talks with investors to raise an undisclosed amount of funds by diluting 26% to 49% equity, confirms the ET report.
The company plans to use the funds to expand operations to 20,000 locations with access to 50 million consumers. In the short term, it plans to expand operations to 5,000 locations across India by the year end and reach a customer base of two million.