The Indian broadband industry has seen a lot of changes and many happenings in the last few months. This is, of course, because of the arrival of the Reliance Jio fibre-based broadband offering, JioFiber. During the run-up to the launch of JioFiber, the other broadband service providers and telecom operators had started gearing up for the competition, and this was also the reason why we have seen so much activity in the sector. One of the major competitors of Reliance Jio happens to be Bharti Airtel and also, it is the strongest competitor for the Mukesh Ambani led telco because the telco is competing with Jio not only in the broadband segment but also in the prepaid and postpaid segment as well. But today, we are going to be talking about the new offerings from both the telcos which seem to be priced very competitively, and they are the Airtel Xstream Fiber and the JioFiber Platinum plan of Rs 3,999.
Airtel Xstream Fiber Service for Rs 3,999 Details
Although gigabyte connections are not the mainstream thing right now in India, they are surely the hot topic of discussions on the internet right now. The deployment of massive fibre network in India has enabled select operators to roll out very high-speed connections which offer up to 1 Gbps of speeds. JioFiber announced its plans offering the same speed, and now Airtel has also announced the launch of its Xstream Fiber service which means that the two telcos will again be at combat in the broadband segment with their premium plans.
Firstly, let’s talk about the newly launched Airtel Xstream Fiber service, which will be available to the subscribers at the same cost as JioFiber’s platinum plan of Rs 3,999. The plan will get the subscribers 1 Gbps speed and unlimited data, as claimed by Airtel, but the data will be actually capped at 3.3TB for the subscribers. Further, the subscribers will also get to enjoy additional benefits with this plan as there is hardly any telecom operator out there that can beat Airtel in providing additional benefits. These extra benefits would include free Netflix subscription for three months, Amazon Prime subscription for a year and additional free premium subscription to Airtel Xstream app and ZEE5 as well. Not only this, but Airtel will also be offering 1000GB additional data to the customers.
Reliance JioFiber Platinum Plan for Rs 3,999 Details
Reliance JioFiber, on the other hand, offers 1 Gbps speed to the subscribers with the Rs 3,999 plan and with this plan, the subscribers get 2500GB data per month. As you can see, this is much less than what the Airtel Xstream Fiber customers will get to enjoy. As for the value-added services which JioFiber will offer, they will include TV video calling, zero-latency gaming, and Norton Device security for five devices. The subscribers will also get access to a free set-top box from Jio as well, but the subscribers will have to get an LCO connection separately. Jio will also offer a subscription to OTT apps, but it is not clear which OTT apps these are going to be. Some other services will include VR and First Day-First Show movies.
Verdict
Summing up the comparison between these two services, it can be said that the decision of any subscriber would tilt more towards Airtel Xstream Fiber as compared to the JioFiber Platinum plan. The simple reason being that Airtel Xstream Fiber will be offering much more data to the subscribers and in terms of additional benefits, the customers are likely to appreciate free Netflix and Amazon Prime subscription. Whereas, Reliance JioFiber’s additional offerings are such that the customers will have to make add-on purchases, thus requiring them to shell out even more money. Not to mention, that JioFiber connection would also require a Rs 2,500 upfront deposit including the Rs 1,000 installation charges.
