For its latest episode of The Master’s Voice, MediaBrief.com caught up with Rohit Paranjpe - Co-Founder and CEO of SugarBox Networks - India, who spoke with Pavan R Chawla about the platform which is a first-of-its-kind worldwide, and enables internet services to work even in areas of bad or no network and empowers users to access them without an active data connection. This episode was recorded over a telephone call since Rohit was also speaking especially about how locked-down-by COVID-19 people can help fight the pandemic from their homes by cutting down on internet data consumption to help make maximum cellular data available for the frontline warriors. So for this episode, please pardon the occasional, slightly awry audio levels and glitches.
Rohit also speaks at length about SugarBox, which creates a hyper-local data distribution ecosystem by installing CDN Edge servers at key places of interest (POIs), which users can connect to over a local Wi-Fi network. SugarBox POIs include public transport, public places, rural areas, hotels and co-living spaces, malls, etc. where a critical mass of users access a host of digital services.
Rohit is one of the youngest CEOs in India, and under his leadership, SugarBox Networks is consistently scaling impressive heights with first-of-its-kind ventures across the digital content and media ecosystem in India.
SugarBox was recently awarded the RailTel contract, and is set to transform the commute experience for more than 25 mn travelers and 300 mn monthly unique users by mid-2022, unlocking an aggregate of 2.5 bn hours of monthly consumption in a near- captive environment, where access to internet services is otherwise limited due to uneven connectivity.
SugarBox has also received a patent grant for Network Control and Optimization by the US Patent Office.
Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. (ZEEL) has agreed to invest a sum of Rs. 5,220mn in Margo Networks Private Ltd (SugarBox).
With the investment from ZEEL, SugarBox will commence commercial operations across exclusive long-term contracts like L&T Metro, Chennai Metro, NMMT, Kolkata Metro and Indian Railways, and forge new partnerships to scale up its network.
As Rohit has said, “SugarBox is at the forefront of revolutionizing availability, affordability and reliability of digital services for the next billion users globally – something that even Big Tech has struggled to achieve sustainably. This investment will provide a giant leap towards us achieving that goal.”
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