Reliance JioFiber broadband price were announced on Thursday this week, and much to everyone’s surprise, the plans don’t look as disruptive as one expected. With JioFiber, Reliance is entering the wired internet market in India, wherein you already have players like Airtel, BSNL and ACT Fibernet among others.
The Reliance-owned telecom operator launches with the promise of building Indian households with smart device and content ecosystem.
But before people sign up with JioFiber, which according to the company already has over 5 lakh users, it’s worth cross-checking how JioFiber plans compare with its competition.
And with this piece, you’ll get all the information; how much the plans cost, what are the speeds on offer and what’s the data usage limit like with others.
Reliance JioFiber
As expected, the plans are priced between Rs 700 and Rs 10,000 with speeds up to 1Gbps on offer, and data maxing out at 5,000GB.
The extra GBs in the plans are available for six months as part of the introductory benefit with JioFiber. This means, every month you get 50GB/200GB or 250GB extra for six months. But for gaming, video calling on TV, subscribers need to buy the devices separately.
The company is also offering these monthly plans in the form of JioForever Plan, part of the JioFiber Welcome Offer, which is where the user will be getting HD, Full HD or 4K television. But the amount of money you’ll be spending to get these is much higher than what you’re paying for broadband internet right now.
Jio also confirmed to us that every user signing up for its broadband service will be getting the 4K set-top box as well as the home gateway device.
For this, Jio is charging one time payment of Rs 1,500 which is refundable deposit and Rs 1000, which is non-refundable deposit for installation of the device at your home.
Many people find it strange that JioFiber is offering a lot of data but with a fair usage policy (FUP) in place.
In order to keep the expenses in control, JioFiber users will have access to 3, 6 and 12 month plans which can be availed through bank tie-ups, as the company allows the user to pay their annual plans in the form of monthly EMIs. How will these work, Jio is yet to share the details about that.
Airtel V-Fibre
This is what Airtel is charging its broadband users across the country right now. But like JioFiber, Airtel is also offering additional GB of data, part of the promotional benefits (valid for six months).
In terms of speed, Airtel’s service is limited to 300Mbps for now but we’re hopeful in the coming months, it will offer 1Gbps plans as well.
For consumers going for the entry level plan, they are getting access to the Xstream app, while other plans include one year subscription to Amazon Prime, three month usage of Netflix, Zee5 subscription and Xstream app as well.
But to access these content, users will have to buy the Xstream device separately, which is priced at Rs 3,999.
BSNL Fibre
And yes, BSNL is very much in the mix with its broadband service. You’ll be surprised to know that the telecom operator is still the leading wired internet player in the country. But its position could change with the launch of JioFiber.
In terms of the fibre plans given here, you can sign up for anything between Rs 777 to Rs 9,999 but it’s worth noting that BSNL only caters to 50Mbps and 100Mbps data speed with high amount of data usage on offer.
ACT Fibernet
With respect to data speeds, ACT Fibernet is the only other mainstream provider that is offering 1Gbps plans, albeit in select cities for now. Users in Chennai and Bengaluru can subscribe to 1Gbps plans for Rs 2,999 and Rs 5,999 with 3000GB and 2500GB data usage made available respectively.
There are couple of entertainment plans that bundle Netflix subscription, offering attractive cashback on any plan with the streaming platform you sign up for.
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