Business Standard

Now, Airtel comes up with ~499 plan

- MEGHA MANCHANDA

On the heels of Reliance Jio offering cheap broadband services, Bharti Airtel on Sunday launched “unlimited” category broadband plans starting at ~499 per month. These will come bundled with subscripti­on to video entertainm­ent apps and high-definition set-top boxes against a refundable deposit.

Airtel said it had enhanced high-speed data usage limit (fair-usage policy) by up to 23 times in the revised plans to 3,500 gigabytes.

Last week, Jio had announced new plans for Jiofiber broadband starting at a monthly price of ~399 with no limit on data usage. This is, by far, the lowest price for broadband services.

In Jio’s new plans, that started from September 1, entertainm­ent app Netflix is on offer for customers subscribin­g the costliest bundle.

Airtel said its new and revised plans will be rolled out from September 7 across 125 cities where the company has operations, and in new cities where it will gradually expand its footprint.

Airtel’s new plans will comprise an entry-level plan of ~499 with promised speed of 40 megabits per second, and revised ~799, ~999 and ~1,499 plans.

“All Airtel Xstream Fiber plans now include a set-top box worth ~3,999 that makes any television a smart TV. Customers get access to all live TV channels plus the best of video streaming apps, effectivel­y eliminatin­g the need for multiple entertainm­ent devices at home,” Airtel said in a statement on Sunday.

All new plans will now

come bundled with unlimited phone calls, option of Airtel Xstream 4K TV box against refundable security deposit of ~1,500, and Airtel Xstream apps, which offer aggregated content from seven over-thetop entertainm­ent apps and five studios, the firm said.

Airtel said subscriber­s would be able to access 550 TV channels, over 10,000 movies and shows on Airtel Xstream apps, Google Play Store apps, along with online gaming, through its Android enabled set-top box.

The plans priced between ~999 to ~3,999 will come bundled with subscripti­on fees of Disney+ Hotstar, Amazon

Prime Video, and Zee5 as well.

“Airtel Xstream brings the best of entertainm­ent along with unlimited high-speed broadband connectivi­ty into a single solution. To drive penetratio­n of this exciting innovation, we are today making our plans even more accessible for customers,” Sunil Taldar, director-homes at Bharti Airtel, said.

Earlier, Airtel was offering 100 Mbps speed with 150 GB FUP (fair-usage policy) limit in ~799 plan, 200 Mbps speed with 300 GB FUP in ~999 plan, 300 Mbps speed with 500 GB FUP in ~1,499 plan, and 1 Gbps speed with no data cap in the ~3,999 plan.

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