The era of fiber broadband is here. People rely on their fiber connections for doing most of the things online today—especially people who are working or learning from their homes. The new normal has forever changed the way we connect.
While 4G networks can offer good speed, they can’t be relied upon due to a number of factors, including network throttling, congestion, and more. Thus the demand for broadband plans grew by a factor no one imagined it would.
Gone are the days of DSL broadband (copper-cable) connections; fiber broadband is what’s hot in the market. This is because fiber broadbands can offer unlimited data, speeds up to 1 Gbps, and more like over-the-top (OTT) benefits.
But there’s one thing that a lot of people don’t understand. Fiber broadband plans are overrated.
Fiber Broadband Plans Are Overrated
Now, just to be clear, fiber broadband is arguably the best medium to connect to internet for several usages at homes and offices. However, its plans are costly, and most of them don’t make sense for an average user.
An average user is subscribed to a 4G unlimited call and data plan already; thus, his/her basic needs for streaming in HD, using social media, and reading blogs online can mostly be covered with that data.
But then there are broadband companies offering you ‘unlimited data’, which is mostly 3.3TB or 3,300GB data with several major internet service providers like JioFiber, Airtel Xstream Fiber, and more.
Apart from entry-level fiber broadband plans, the average cost for the 100 Mbps broadband plan is between Rs 750 to Rs 900 per month. Thus, these plans are not at all cheap. But then one would argue, DSL broadband plans came for nearly the same price as fiber plans and offered much less.
While that is true, what’s also true is that most of the users don’t require fiber broadband plans. Users can live with 4G data if they live in a good network zone and get constant speeds even during peak hours.
However, fiber plans make sense when there’s a whole family or a bunch of people who are contributing to get a plan so that everyone can use it. Because then, the data offered by the plan would actually be put to use.
Then there are lucrative OTT benefits. Users can get subscriptions to OTT platforms for very cheap today. Apart from Netflix, even the most major OTT platforms don’t cost more than Rs 1,500 per year.
But the expensive fiber plans with several OTT benefits seem like such a good deal when you calculate the total price you would have to pay if you got the subscription of these platforms individually. However, the question is, how many people actually consume content from the OTT benefits provided by the ISPs.
Mostly, an average user would shuffle across two to three premium OTT platforms and not more than that. Thus, getting a subscription to 15 OTT platforms is just not of any use.
Entry-Level Fiber Broadband Plans the Best for an Average User
An average user with basic data needs would get his/her needs fulfilled with an entry-level plan. These plans might not offer 100 Mbps speed, OTT benefits, but they will offer data at sufficient speeds and help the user get the job done.
The next time you are inclined towards purchasing a high-speed fiber broadband plan, ask yourself, do you actually require the speed or the OTT or the data benefits? Don’t just subscribe because they look like a good deal.
Any plan is only a good deal for a consumer when he/she actually needs it.
