Bharti Doubles Broadband Speeds At No Extra Cost

[Arun 795]

Bharti doubles broadband speeds at no extra cost

The Hindu Business Line

New Delhi, March 18

In a move that could raise the bar for broadband services in the country, Bharti Airtel is launching a 4 Mbps wire line connection for just Rs 899 a month starting Friday.

The company has also decided to make its existing broadband connections 50 per cent cheaper by doubling the speeds being offered to subscribers, without any additional cost.

Therefore, all of Bharti's existing subscribers on 256 Kbps connection will automatically get upgraded to 512 Kbps speed at no extra charge by the end of June.

Those who are currently on 512 kbps will start getting 1 Mbps; and 1Mbps subscribers will get speeds of 2Mbps.

Speaking to Business Line Mr. K. Srinivas, Joint President-Telemedia Services, Bharti Airtel, “We are massifying the broadband experience by enabling users to access higher speeds at affordable rates. Our data shows that more and more customers want higher speeds. Average usage per customer has also increased by 40 per cent.

“Therefore, we are redefining broadband speeds in India by upgrading all our subscribers to 512 Kbps even as the telecom regulator defines broadband as 256 Kbps.”

The 4Mbps connection to be launched by Airtel is also 30-40 per cent cheaper compared with current market rates. With a 4Mbps connection users can download a 1 GB movie in 34 minutes compared with 9 hours taken in case of 256 Kbps speed.

For Rs 899 a month, subscribers can download up to 6 GB of data after which the users has the option to pay at the rate of 10 paise for every additional MB downloaded or move to a 256 Kbps speed till the new billing cycle starts.

According to industry estimates, the median for broadband usage per user is about 4 GB a month.

Over the past six months, telecom players have got engaged in a battle for speed. Recently a Mumbai-based Internet Service Provider –Tikona launched a 2Mbps speed connection priced between Rs 299 and Rs 1,249 depending on the download usage. Tata Teleservices Maharashtra had introduced a 100 Mbps line in Mumbai, while State-owned BSNL is offering 24Mbps connection for Rs 9,999.

There are also a bunch of CDMA operators who are offering 3G-enabled dongles with an average throughput of 1 Mbps speed for about Rs 1,500. Bharti Airtel's new 4Mbps offer will be rolled out in phases starting with four cities.

The move is expected to prompt other players to come out with their own plans and offers over the next few days. At the end of December, Bharti had over a million broadband subscribers across 95 cities.

[tanveer 59]

still FUP

[weapon-x 3]

gr8 news for airtel users like me .. hahaha :Contento:

[rbdhoot 11]

जागो BSNL.

[srk006 21]

Airtel is insane. 6GB limit for a 4mbps plan!!

[ipkonfig 10]

^^ True. But plenty of people will fall for the "4mbps" tag. Just another marketing gimmick from Airtel.

[csmart 472]

i have combo plan for my office. gr8 if my speed is increased to 2Mbps.... will call up CC and let u know the result...

[manishag 17]

doubling the speed is the initiative from MTNL

Bharti force to offer that too by end of June by the end of june they will be milking the customers where as MTNL has already upgraded the customers also there are not Installation charges in case of MTNL Delhi and for Bharti you have to pay Rs 500 as installation charges.

in all double speed they have pretty weired FUP limits like in 649 Unlimited plan they have FUP of 5GB if you cross the FUP limit then your speed will become 256kbps and and then it'll have FUP of 75GB if you Hit this limit then your speed will become 128kbps

1mbps unlimited plans have FUP of 10GB(FUP1) and 50GB(FUP2)

[prafull4u 24]

Airtel is insane. 6GB limit for a 4mbps plan!!

what is the use of the speed then

[manishag 17]

Airtel is insane. 6GB limit for a 4mbps plan!!

what is the use of the speed then

for you there is no use of this speed but for Bharti it's a way to earn @ 4mbps

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

It is much better to double FUP also when doubling the speed... But what to do, it is Airtel... We can't expect more from Airtel...

[srk006 21]

why is bsnl not responding to mtnl and airtel's new plans.

[KanagaDeepan 1,084]

Because BSNL is huge, powerful, determined and ALSO sleepy like KumbhaKarna... It only wakes up once or twice a year... But when it wakes up, it will destroys its enemies in minutes...

But GOD ONLY knows the way to wake up that giant KumbaKarna

[tanveer 59]

Airtel is insane. 6GB limit for a 4mbps plan!!

Thats laughable to say the least. You can exhaust that in almost 3-4 hours.

[ayaz_cool 30]

BSNL SO RAHA HAI.. :Equivocado: pata nahi kab jagegaaa... DESH KI TARRAKI AISE HI ROKI HAI....

[amitnsonu 72]

BSNL jag gaya

"BSNL 1 Mbps Unlimited Broadband Combo plan will cost Rs.1000 per month along with Rent free Land line, 450 free local calls.The 1 Mbps speed downloading will be valid up to 9 GB after that speed will be 256 Kbps. While 2 Mbps Unlimited Broadband combos Plan comes at Rs.1100 per month along with Rent free Land line, 500 free local calls. The 2 Mbps downloading speed will be valid up to 10 GB downloads beyond that speed will be 256 Kbps for further downloads."

[Greatest 55]

^^^ Amit, could you please provide the source??

[KumaarShah 143]

See here

[KumaarShah 143]

BSNL also doubles BB Speeds for some plans for one month only...

See here

Enjoyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy for one month only atleast.......

[eskayes 0]

It is nice to hear about 4mbps & 2mbps speeds. But the actual speed is never as listed

[raccoon 53]

^^^Don't know about Airtel, but BSNL does give the promised speed. Which ISP are you talking about? You shouldn't accept if its less than what is promised.

Edited April 3, 2010 by raccoon