The year 2019 is going to be an important year for Reliance Jio as the company is set to enter the broadband industry this year. With the upcoming Jio GigaFiber, Jio will cause disruption beyond the telecom industry.
People involved in setting up the Jio GigaFiber have confirmed that Jio GigaFiber rollout will happen in March 2019. Following the trend, Jio GigaFiber is expected to disrupt the broadband industry also by bringing down the prices and intensifying the competition amongst the top broadband players like Airtel V-Fiber and BSNL.
V-Fiber is Airtel's fast broadband service in the country. The service aims to deliver speeds of up to 100Mbps and is one of the cheapest broadband plan providers in India. BSNL, on the other hand, is known for its wider reach and is also a quite popular broadband service especially in small Indian cities.
Jio is already running preview offers for its GigaFiber in select cities like Delhi and Mumbai. The company is giving 100Mbps speeds and 1100GB 4G data for 3 months under the preview offer. Moreover, Jio also plans to add Jio GigaTV and home smart solutions with the broadband service when the commercial launch happens. The news has already stirred the broadband industry. The competing companies are revamping their plans in order to give a tough fight to Jio.
BSNL wireless broadband: BSNL is one of the biggest internet service provider in India. BSNL does not ask for any activation or installation charges for the broadband set up but you do have to pay a one-time security fee along with the cost of ADSL WiFi Modem before getting the broadband connection. In some areas, BSNL broadband connection also comes with the landline connectivity. Ahead of Jio GigaFiber launch, BSNL has revised its entire broadband portfolio. It has extended the FUP limits for some plan while some have received faster download speeds. BSNL unlimited broadband plans start at Rs 249 and go up to Rs 1199. BSNL Rs 1,277 broadband plan offers 750GB of monthly data with up to 100Mbps speeds and post that the speed dips to 2Mbps.
Airtel V-Fiber: Airtel V-Fiber is available only in select areas currently. The Airtel monthly broadband plans start at Rs 499 and go up till Rs 1999 in Delhi. The company allows you to save up to 15 percent on 6 months plan and up to 20 percent on one year plan. All the plans offer unlimited calling benefits and plans above Rs 799 come with data rollover facility. The set up involves a router which is free of cost and a landline connection in some areas. You pay Rs 1000 for Airtel V-Fiber registration. Existing Airtel users need to buy a modem worth Rs 1000 and they will be upgraded to V-Fiber for free. Airtel broadband plans also offer the benefit of Airtel Prime subscription. The lowest priced plan offers speed of up to 8 Mbps while the highest paid plan offers up to 100Mbps speeds.
Jio GigaFiber: Jio GigaFiber is Jio's Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) broadband service offered through fixed lines. The installation process is free of cost but you have to pay Rs 4,500 as a security deposit which is refundable if you decide to return the device at any point in time. Although there are no words on the pricing of the Jio GigaFiber plans yet but the company is expected to launch the plans at a starting price of Rs 500 and go up to Rs 1500. Jio is giving 1100GB data per month at 100Mbps speeds for first three months as part of the preview offer.
