The my ViberNet app is now live on Google Play. It does six things, and I want to explain why the list is that short.
ViberNet is my fiber ISP in Kashmir, and our customer app is now live on Google Play. It is called my ViberNet, and it is built to let a subscriber manage their broadband account without calling anyone.
It is easy for an ISP app to grow into a whole platform: offers, entertainment bundles, referral schemes, a chatbot. Ours does the opposite. Here is what it covers, and the thinking behind keeping it small.
What the app does
- OTP login. You sign in with your registered mobile number and a one-time code. No password to set up, forget, or reset.
- Live connection status. You can see whether your connection is online right now, without phoning support to ask.
- Recharge. You renew your plan and pay through PayU with UPI, cards, or netbanking, without opening a browser.
- Invoices. Past invoices are there to view and download whenever you need them.
- Support tickets. You can raise an issue and follow it to resolution from the app.
- Secure sessions. Your session token is kept in encrypted device storage, and we never ask for your password over the phone or in the app.
Most items on that list replace a phone call. That is the idea behind keeping it short.
Why an ISP app should be boring
The questions a broadband subscriber has are repetitive across every ISP. Is my internet down, or is it just me? When does my plan expire? How do I pay? Where is my invoice? Who do I tell about the problem? Each one is simple, and each one, without an app, becomes a call to a support number.
The most valuable feature is the least glamorous: live connection status. The first thing most people want to know when the internet stops is whether the fault is on their side or the provider's. If the app can answer that in a few seconds, the customer does not have to wait on hold for a question that a status light could have answered, and my support team's time goes to real faults instead.
Recharge works the same way. Someone whose plan is about to expire wants to pay in under a minute, from the device already in their hand. Anything slower and they put it off, and a lapsed connection is bad for them and for us.
The case for OTP over passwords
An ISP already holds one identifier for every subscriber that is verified and current: the mobile number on their account. Signing in with a code sent to that number uses something we already trust, and it removes the most common reason a customer-facing login becomes a support ticket, which is the forgotten password.
There is a security argument as well. A password that people reuse across apps is a liability we would be holding for them. A one-time code, plus a session token in encrypted storage on the phone, gives less to protect. The app's privacy policy on our website spells out what it collects and how it is used.
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The bar is set by the big operators
A small ISP cannot compete on brand or marketing budget, and I have written before that the real competitor is the customer's existing mobile plan, not another fiber company. People compare every broadband experience to the phone apps they already use, where paying a bill takes seconds and status is one tap away.
If a subscriber has to call a number, wait, and explain their problem to do something their mobile operator's app does in ten seconds, we lose more than convenience. We lose the feeling that a local provider is easier to deal with than a big one, which is supposed to be the point of being local. I covered the reasons the last mile is hard in The Internet Problem in Kashmir, and support experience is a big part of what separates providers who last from ones who do not.
What is not there yet
The app is Android only for now. An iOS version is coming, and I would rather not promise a date I cannot control. Customers who prefer the browser can still manage their account on the web at my.vibernet.in.
It does not try to do everything. It is built for one job, managing your connection, and anything more should be added only in response to a real need. You can find the download link and privacy policy on the ViberNet app page.
How to judge an app like this
The measure of success for a small app like this is not downloads. It is whether the questions it answers stop turning into phone calls: how many subscribers actually log in, whether recharges move to the app, and what people raise in tickets, because tickets show what is still missing.
If you are a ViberNet customer, install it and tell our support team what you would want added. Feedback from real subscribers is more useful than any guess I could make from here.
