Telcos are now shifting focus on home broadband. Airtel is now providing ‘bonus’ data of up to 1000 GB to new users buying is broadband services, after its rivals including ACT, Hathway, YOU Broadband, among others announced similar offers to attract new customers. Airtel had claimed to have 2 million home broadband subscribers in February, just 4 months after it started rolling out fiber-based Internet services in the country. Under the ‘Big Byte offer, the telco will provide additional data on top of the eligible data usage under a given plan. The bonus data given varies from 500GB to 1000GB depending on the rate of the plan and expires on 31st March 2018. However, free data provided under Big Byte can be utilized only after the customer exhausts his/her FUP. Unused data for a particular month will be carried forward to the next month. Here is what Airtel is providing in its broadband packs in Bangalore circle: Airtel broadband is provided over DSL lines and although it has fiber based connectivity, the 100 Mbps plans mentioned above is not available in all area around a city. Where I stay in Bangalore (Koramangala 6th Block); the highest speed in my area is 40 Mbps, according to customer representative that I spoke to. The telco’s rival ACT updated download speeds and monthly usage limits in Chennai, Delhi and Bangalore circle last week. In some plans, ACT introduced 150 and 200 Mbps speeds for home users while data usage is now being counted separately on the basis of monthly…
