The Cityborgaon Cable Network story: How institutional paralysis sparked a connectivity revolution
The Essential Details
Enterprise: Cityborgaon Cable Network
Leadership: Santosh Dinkar Zende
Base of Operations: Borgaon (Bahe), Maharashtra
Journey Started: 2015
Team Strength: 2
Evolution: Cable TV services → Full-scale Internet Service Provider
Primary Clientele: Offices, Companies, Schools, Colleges, Government Institutions
Technology Partner: WiFi Dabba Network
The Crisis Nobody Talks About
Here’s what doesn’t make headlines: A bank employee in a small village, staring at a frozen screen, unable to process a farmer’s loan application. A milk industry operator watching precious hours slip away because the procurement system won’t load. An MSEB office clerk manually calculating what should be automated. Students in a school computer lab, gathered around the one device that occasionally connects.
This was Borgaon (Bahe) before 2015.
The village had internet—technically. But “technically having internet” and “having functional connectivity” are universes apart. What Borgaon had was a mess of intermittent connections, dropped signals, and institutional gridlock.
The real cost? Every disconnected moment was a delayed transaction, a missed opportunity, a frustrated citizen.
Enter: Mr. Santosh Dinkar Zende
Mr. Santosh Dinkar wasn’t a telecom executive or a technology entrepreneur. He was a cable service operator, watching his village struggle. But he was also someone who understood something crucial: connectivity isn’t a luxury it’s a necessity.
Mr. Sudhir in Action, pitching services to a potential customer!
In 2015, he made a decision. Cityborgaon Cable Network, which had built trust through reliable cable TV services, would expand into something the village desperately needed: dependable internet infrastructure.
But here’s what makes this story different— Mr. Santosh didn’t do this alone. He connected with Mr. Mohan Jadhav, another visionary operator who understood the institutional connectivity challenge. Together, they identified the problem with surgical precision:
Borgaon’s institutions weren’t failing because of incompetence or lack of effort. They were failing because their digital foundation was broken.
The Transformation: From Chaos to Continuity
Phase One: Understanding Institutional Needs
Unlike residential customers who need internet for entertainment and communication, institutions have zero tolerance for downtime. A bank can’t say “try your transaction later.” A milk industry can’t pause procurement because connectivity dropped. Schools can’t skip digital lessons on random days.
Cityborgaon Cable Network designed its service with this reality front and center:
Continuous Connectivity: Not “mostly working” or “usually stable”—but genuinely continuous operation that institutions could depend on.
Institutional-Grade Reliability: Infrastructure built to handle the simultaneous demands of banks processing transactions, schools running online classes, and government offices accessing portals.
Local Accountability: With Mr. Santosh and his team of 2 operating locally, response time isn’t measured in days—it’s measured in hours.
Phase Two: WiFi Dabba Network Integration
The partnership with WiFi Dabba Network was a game-changer. It provided:
- Scalable Infrastructure: The ability to serve multiple institutions without compromising quality
- Technical Backbone: Enterprise-grade technology at local operator economics
- Reliability Engineering: Systems designed for the “always-on” needs of institutional clients
Phase Three: Village-Wide Impact
Today, walk into any institution in Borgaon (Bahe) and you’ll see something remarkable: work happening smoothly.
At the Bank:
Transactions process in real-time. Loan applications get uploaded instantly. Digital banking services that seemed impossible in 2014 are now routine.
At the Milk Industry:
Procurement data flows seamlessly. Quality tracking happens digitally. Payments to dairy farmers process without delays. The entire supply chain operates with efficiency that rivals urban facilities.
At the MSEB Office:
Bill generation, complaint registration, outage tracking—all happening digitally. What once took days now takes minutes.
At Schools and Colleges:
Computer labs that actually connect to the internet. Students accessing educational resources in real-time. Teachers conducting digital lessons without wondering if connectivity will hold.
At the Gram Panchayat:
Digital governance isn’t a buzzword—it’s daily reality. Applications get filed online. Records are maintained digitally. Citizens receive services without bureaucratic delays.
The Founder’s Philosophy
While the story credits Mr. Mohan Jadhav with the founding vision and Santosh Dinkar Zende with execution, what shines through is a shared philosophy:
Service institutions first, and everyone benefits.
Most ISPs chase residential customers because the market is larger and the sales are easier. Cityborgaon Cable Network took the harder path—serving institutions with demanding requirements and zero tolerance for failure.
But by solving institutional connectivity, they solved so much more. They enabled:
- Economic efficiency (banks and industries functioning properly)
- Educational equity (schools delivering on digital promises)
- Governance effectiveness (panchayats serving citizens digitally)
- Community confidence (institutions that work build trust)
The Mentorship Connection
The relationship between Mr. Mohan Jadhav (the founder who identified the problem) and Santosh Dinkar Zende (the operator executing the solution) represents something beautiful about India’s connectivity revolution:
Knowledge transfer from experienced operators to emerging entrepreneurs.
Shared commitment to solving real community problems.
Collaboration over competition in serving underserved markets.
This mentorship model—where successful operators help newer ones establish reliable services—is multiplying impact across rural Maharashtra.
Why This Model Matters
Cityborgaon Cable Network’s institutional focus offers a blueprint for other operators:
- Identify Critical Pain Points: Where is connectivity failure causing institutional paralysis?
- Design for Institutional Needs: Residential and institutional connectivity have different requirements—design accordingly.
- Leverage the Right Technology: WiFi Dabba Network provided the infrastructure to deliver institutional-grade reliability.
- Stay Local and Accountable: A 2-person team that’s embedded in the community responds faster than distant call centers.
- Measure Success by Community Function: The goal isn’t customer count—it’s whether institutions can do their work smoothly.
