The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) on Monday released its monthly telecom report for December which indicated that the number of broadband subscribers in India grew 0.10% between November and December. The total number of broadband subscribers including those on wired, fixed wireless and mobile wireless at the end of December were 661.94 million as compared to 661.27 million in November. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in its report released in February said that India had 19.14 million wired broadband subscribers by the end of December. While the number of fixed broadband subscribers were considered to be low, the COVID-19 lockdown caused severe strain on mobile operators and further highlighted the need for India to switch to wired broadband networks. In late March, GTPL Hathway said that it witnessed an increase in demand for new Cable TV boxes and broadband connections with others indicating a similar trend. For those who are considering making a switch to wired broadband, TelecomTalk looks at the 100 Mbps annual plans across the top five operators. The 100 Mbps speeds are considered an ideal connection for a household as it can handle multiple activities including streaming at the same time.
BSNL 100 Mbps Plans
The state owned company, BSNL is the top wired broadband service provider in India with 8.39 million subscribers. Like others on the list, most BSNL plans are specific to circles and can vary between two states. For the sake of this comparison, we have considered the BSNL plans in the Chennai circle.
BSNL provides two major 100 Mbps plans suitable for normal households with the base plan providing users with upto 100 Mbps speeds till 750GB each month for Rs 15,324. Additionally, users subscribed to the plan can also make unlimited calls and browse at 2 Mbps beyond the 750 GB limit. BSNL provides one month of free service with the annual plan.
Further, BSNL also provides an additional plan priced at Rs 15,588 that provides similar benefits as to the 750GB plan but with an enhanced data limit of 800GB. The company also provides 100 Mbps plans with 1100GB and 1400GB FUP limit for Rs 20,388 and 23,988 respectively. The top tiered 100 Mbps plan is priced at Rs 2,03,988 that offers upto 100 Mbps speeds till 170GB per day.
Bharti Airtel 100 Mbps plans
Bharti Airtel with 2.42 million subscribers is second on the list of top wired broadband service providers in India. The company promises upto 100 Mbps speeds on its base pack priced at Rs 799 per month that provides 150GB of high speed data and unlimited calls. However, users can also upgrade to the unlimited high speed data for Rs 299. Airtel offers free access to Airtel Xstream app as part of its Airtel Thanks benefits package. The company has been rolling out unlimited internet packs to certain cities including Ahmedabad, Guntur, Hyderabad, Secunderbad, Surat, Vijayawada and Visakhapatnam.
The company often provides users to select packs with long-term validity on its Airtel Thanks app and usually offers a 10% discount along with unlimited data. It has to be noted that the packs with unlimited data are capped at 3.3TB each month.
Atria Convergence Technologies 100 Mbps Plans
ACT Fibernet is third on the list with 1.52 million subscribers across India. The company provides 100 Mbps speeds on its Act Blaze plan that provides users with 500GB data limit for Rs 999 per month.
The company provides multiple offers to those selecting annual packs priced at Rs 11,988. Users can select either three months of free internet along with a free installation offer or two months of free internet along with free Wi-Fi router and installation. The company notes that the users will have to pay 12 months rental in advance for availing the offers.
It has to be noted that the company's plans and offers often vary with the city. ACT Fibernet users in Bengaluru can avail the Act Blaze plan for Rs 12,708 with 450GB of high speed data limit. The company provides multiple offers for the plan in Bangalore with major benefits including 1500GB additional data, free installation and Rs 50 cashback on Netflix remaining the same. However, the major difference between the offers are the free router and two months free internet with users asked to select either of the two.
Hathway Cable and Datacom 100 Mbps Plans
With 0.90 million subscribers, Hathway is the fourth major broadband provider in India. Like many others on the list, the company plans often vary with the city. In Chennai, the company offers 100 Mbps speeds on its base plan priced at Rs 949 per month or Rs 11,388 per year. The company offers a FUP limit of 1000GB while users can continue to browse at 5 Mbps post FUP.
Hathway only offers only a Value pack in Bengaluru that provides users 150 Mbps speed with an FUP of 1000GB for an annual price of Rs 10,188. In Delhi, the company offers 100 Mbps speed with an FUP limit of 130GB per month for an annual price of Rs 12,299. Further in Hyderabad, Hathway offers 100 Mbps speeds with an FUP limit of 1000GB for an annual price of Rs 5988. The company in Hyderabad and Bangalore offers free installation and free router with the company running similar offers in other cities on selected packs.
Reliance Jio 100 Mbps plans
Despite an official launch in late 2019, Jio is the fifth largest broadband provider in India with a subscriber base of 0.86 million. The company provides two 100 Mbps plans with different FUP limits. The base Bronze pack priced at Rs 8388 annually provides users with 200GB data and 50 GB promotional data per month for six months. For those selecting the annual Bronze pack, the company lets users select either the double data offer or two months free subscription or a bluetooth speaker.
The company also has a Gold plan priced at Rs 10,188 annually that provides users with 400GB of data including a promotional 200GB data for six months. The offers for the annual Gold pack are similar to the annual Bronze plan. Further, Jio offers several benefits including free voice calling and access to OTT apps across all major Jio plans. Access to TV video calling, gaming, home networking and device security are also included on Jio plans.
