SugarBox Wants To Deliver The Sweetness Of Stable And Free Internet To Remote India
SugarBox Networks wants to improve the pace of India's digitisation through its unlicensed, free, and unlimited internet services that could aid connectivity in an array of settings - be it in your swanky metro rail compartment or border towns of India where connectivity is abysmal.
No data connectivity? No problem! SugarBox's hyperlocal miniaturised cloud tech can be installed at any place. Users would need LAN connectivity to access internet in even the remotest of regions - wired or wireless.
What's in a SugarBox?
Why is a tech startup aimed at internet connectivity called SugarBox, you wonder? SugarBox's Chief Business Officer Gautam Karmakar thinks of SugarBox as a goodie package... but for internet connectivity. You could unleash its powers virtually anywhere, opening new arenas for knowledge accumulation/creation, trade, education, and even gaming!
By harnessing the power of Local Area Networks (LAN), SugarBox essentially creates bubbles of connectivity in regions where connectivity is rather dismal. "Our life is dependent on the internet and digital services... and we're capturing those 'goodies' into a small box," Karmakar told us while explaining the rationale behind naming themselves SugarBox.
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"We partner with state and central governments in [solving connectivity issues] by providing access to digital services... We also work with existing network networks to marry our technology with their networks to make it more sustainable," SugarBox's Karmakar told us.
What does SugarBox want to achieve?
Karmakar and co. want to extend internet connectivity to remote areas in hopes of creating an ecosystem. "We have already deployed [SugarBox in] a few gram panchayats in Maharashtra." By capitalising on existing broadband connectivity, SugarBox is adding the provision of stability to internet connectivity in these regions. "By deploying inside their network, even if their connectivity goes away, our services continue to deliver."
While India has roughly 658 million internet users, most of them, as Karmakar put, are a "WhatsApp internet population," implying that their connectivity is limited to basic internet services. High end video streaming, audio streaming, and gaming services remain out of reach of most India owing to unstable connections.
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"We essentially [build on] relevant digital services which are hyperlocal and contextual for that particular territory... For instance, for a village in Manipur, we would [take into account] relevant educational content for that state... We deploy the services within local Wi-Fi?and internet networks... Anybody with access to smartphone could then access that educational content without worrying about affordability and data access."?
SugarBox's Karmakar told us that they want to impact the livelihoods of millions of Indians.?"We want villagers to be able to transact and sell their products online regardless of internet connectivity being available."?
In addition, SugarBox has also partnered with metro railways in Chennai and Hyderabad to provide seamless connectivity to all aboard trains.?
How does SugarBox work??
Essentially, all applications that work on the SugarBox spectrum will be accessible to users without any extra data costs. "Users won't know the technology powering SugarBox services. We want to be a technology platform, we are not a content player... We are partnering with multiple existing e-commerce and OTT digital services."
In essence, these services will work in a SugarBox in situations where there is no internet available. "If you're sitting in a train or a plane from Delhi to the Northeast, you're on your mobile data. The SugarBox Wi-Fi, upon being connected, acts as a discovery platform." Basically, if Netflix and SugarBox were to get into a partnership, you would simply need to connect to SugarBox on a train or plane journey and access the content through the SugarBox app "without worrying about your daily network's data limit."
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Karmakar described SugarBox's speeds as "unlimited" for "the content is being delivered from a server sitting next to you." So how long would it take to load content on app? Karmakar claims it would take about a millisecond to load content on a SugarBox Wi-Fi.
Going on a long train trip with your close buddies who like gaming? Worry not, Karmakar says that if the game is available on the SugarBox network, users would be able to play with each other without any latency issues. "The server SugarBox has deployed is nothing but a cloud."
The power of replicability?
SugarBox also claims to be easily replicable. "If we solve one use case in a village, that's replicable across 350,000 villages in India... may be millions of villages across the globe." Similarly, by successfully deploying SugarBox on a single train, the company is essentially solving "use case of entire train networks not just India but across the world."
Currently, SugarBox has patented its cloud based hyperlocal internet services in India, United States, and 118 other countries. "We believe this is replicable not just in India but all over the world."
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By eliminating a central server, SugarBox is attempting to enhance each user's internet experience. With metaverse coming into play, Karmakar expects pressures on existing network capabilities to increase multi-fold but also believes that SugarBox could help take some pressure off overcrowded servers in India. "That could unlock a lot of potential by providing a better experience, access, and making it more accessible and sustainable."
Who wouldn't love free internet connectivity on trains and aeroplanes? Let us know what you think about SugarBox's ambitions for an interconnected India.?For more in the world of?technology?and?science, keep reading?Indiatimes.com.
