As expected, other operators were quick to follow suit. In the past few months, the market has been flooded with various high speed broadband packages at rock-bottom prices. Such initiatives seem to be paying off. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) performance indicator report for the July-September 2011 quarter, the segment grew by 24.54 per cent between September 2010 and September 2011, from 10.31 million users to 12.83 million subscribers. Nevertheless, the segment still has miles to go before any  discernible change takes place.

tele.net takes a look at the key broadband offerings of major service providers...

Bharti Airtel

The operator has launched the Smartbyte scheme that permits customers, who exceed the data usage limit under their existing broadband plans, to purchase additional quota for a fixed price. The scheme allows customers to choose from packs starting at Rs 99 for 1 GB to Rs 1,499 for 50 GB. The additional data is offered at the same broadband speed as the customer has subscribed to.

The operators’ broadband plans for home users are clubbed into two categories - the 2 Mbps plans and the 4 Mbps plans. Under the first, Bharti Airtel offers the Max 75 GB scheme, which gives users 75 GB of free data download and free voice calls to other networks worth up to Rs 300 per month. The monthly rental for this plan is Rs 1,599.

Under the 4 Mbps category, the Turbo 150 GB plan allows downloads of up to 150 GB. Thereafter, the connection speed reduces from 4 Mbps to 256 kbps. Users can also make voice calls worth up to Rs 300 per month under this scheme, which entails a monthly rental of Rs 2,099.

TTSL

Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) offers broadband access for desktops and laptops through its Photon Plus device. The operator has two categories of users, prepaid and post-paid.

Under the prepaid category, the modem is available for Rs 1,199 and the user can opt for several first recharge plans ranging from Rs 125 to Rs 5,000. These plans offer bundled data usage of 1 GB to 20 GB, and their validity ranges from 30 days to 365 days. The recharge options for this category range from Rs 99 to Rs 850, and their validity from a week to 30 days. They offer bundled data usage of 512 MB to 5 GB. Unlimited recharge vouchers in the range of Rs 700 to Rs 1,200 are also available for this category. The vouchers are valid for 30 days and offer 1 GB to 5 GB of data usage.

For post-paid users, two categories of plans are available: time based and data based. Four monthly rental plans, ranging from Rs 250 to Rs 750, are available in the time-based category. These plans offer data usage of 300 MB to 2 GB.

TTSL offers two data-based plans with monthly rentals of Rs 250 and Rs 500 with free data usage of 300 and 1,800 minutes, respectively.

RCOM

Reliance Communications (RCOM) offers several categories of plans to its broadband customers. These include post-paid plans such as the Freedom plans, the Trump plans, the Galaxy plans, the Flat Fee plans and the Combo plans.

Under the Freedom category, users can avail of two schemes with monthly rentals of Rs 99 and Rs 999. The Rs 99 plan offers a speed of 2 Mbps with bundled data usage of 200 MB while the Rs 999 plan offers a speed of 12 Mbps and unlimited data usage.

Three schemes are available under the Trump category with monthly rentals of Rs 1,299, Rs 1,799 and Rs 2,599. These plans offer 30 GB to 60 GB of data usage.

Under the Galaxy category, users can avail of two monthly rental plans priced at Rs 2,499 and Rs 2,999 with speeds of 10 Mbps to 20 Mbps and bundled data usage of 10 GB and 20 GB, respectively.

The Flat Fee category offers five plans with monthly rentals ranging from Rs 649 to Rs 1,499, offering unlimited data usage at download speeds of 600 kbps to 2 Mbps.

Under the Combo category, TTSL customers can avail of five plans with monthly rentals ranging from Rs 549 to Rs 1,199. These plans offer unlimited data usage at download speeds of 500 kbps to 2 Mbps.

BSNL

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) offers various plans under the prepaid and post-paid categories. The post-paid category is further divided into limited and unlimited usage plans.

Plans in the limited usage category consist of standalone, combo and high speed plans, and are targeted at home and business users. Two schemes are available in the standalone category. These have monthly rentals of Rs 250 and Rs 700 and offer download speeds of 2 Mbps.

The combo category offers six schemes with monthly rentals ranging between Rs 299 and Rs 2,799. Connectivity speeds offered by these plans range from 512 kbps to 8 Mbps.

The high speed category consists of two monthly schemes, priced at Rs 4,999 and Rs 6,999, offering download speeds of 16 Mbps and 24 Mbps respectively.

The unlimited usage category offers schemes primarily meant for home users, standalone plans for business and home users, and combination plans catering to both business and home users.

The operator offers six plans primarily catering to home users with monthly rentals ranging from Rs 499 to Rs 900, offering 512 kbps of download speed up to data usage of 4 GB. Beyond 4 GB, the download speed offered is 256 kbps..

The standalone plans for home and business users consists of five schemes, with connectivity speeds ranging from 1 Mbps to 4 Mbps, and offering 100 GB to unlimited data usage. The monthly rentals range from Rs 2,150 to Rs 15,000 and a security deposit of one month’s rental is applicable under all plans.

BSNL offers nine broadband plans under the combination category for both business and home users with monthly charges ranging from Rs 850 to Rs 15,000. These plans offer download speeds of 2 Mbps to 4 Mbps and the minimum hire period for a modem under each plan is one month.

For prepaid users, the operator has 13 broadband vouchers on offer with prices ranging from Rs 200 to Rs 3,000 and validity of 30 to 360 days. These vouchers offer connectivity speeds of 2 Mbps and  allow 700 MB to 13 GB of data usage.

MTNL

MTNL broadband offerings are divided into the prepaid and post-paid categories. For prepaid users, two unlimited data usage schemes are available with a connectivity speed of 512 kbps. The vouchers are priced at Rs 449 and Rs 4,499 with face values of Rs 407.07 and Rs 4,078.88 respectively.

Post-paid users can choose from the limited and the unlimited usage plans. The limited usage category consists of 10 plans with download speeds ranging from 2 Mbps to 4 Mbps and allows monthly data usage of 200 MB to 10 GB. These plans are priced between Rs 49 and Rs 8,500.

The unlimited category comprises eight monthly rental plans with charges ranging from Rs 599 to Rs 3,499. The plans offer connectivity speeds of 512 kbps to 4 Mbps and unlimited data download.

Hathway Cable

The company offers two sets of schemes, namely home broadband plans and business broadband plans.

The scheme for home users is further divided into the light user categories, the medium user categories and the heavy user categories.

Light users can avail of three plans with connectivity speeds ranging from 1 Mbps to 2 Mbps and download limits of 2 MB to 4 GB. The plans are priced between Rs 74 and Rs 1,200 per month, and are valid for one month to four months.

There are six plans under the medium user category, priced between Rs 499 and Rs 2,100 per month. The plans offer 5 GB to unlimited data usage and are valid for one month to three months.

Heavy internet users can avail of four plans, with download speeds ranging from 2 Mbps to 5 Mbps. The monthly rentals for these plans range from Rs 899 to Rs 2,800 and they are valid for one month to three months.

YOU Broadband and Cable India

The company offers four categories of broadband plans – the Unlimited Plan, the Day/Night Plan, the MB Plan and the Dual Speed plan.

The Unlimited category comprises four plans, each divided into four sub-categories. For example, the YOU Neptune plan offers four options, with validities of one, three, six and 12 months. Monthly rentals range from Rs 899 to Rs 9,669 and users can avail of unlimited data download options under each plan. The connectivity speed for each plan is 1 Mbps.

The Day/Night category consists of two plans with four variants each. For instance, the Angel 512 plan has four variants that are valid for one, three, six and 12 months. The monthly rentals range from Rs 700 to Rs 7,100 and users can avail of unlimited data download at 512 kbps connectivity speed.

The MB Plan category offers six schemes. The popular YOU Trident Eco plan is valid for a year and offers users 50 GB of data usage with connectivity speeds of up to 10 Mbps. The monthly rental plan is priced at Rs 3,999.

The company has seven Dual Speed plans. Of them, the HURRICANE YOU comes in four variants that are valid for one month, and three, six and 12 months; offer data usage of 25 GB, 80 GB, 175 GB and 375 GB; and are priced at Rs 1,102, Rs 3,308, Rs 6,617 and Rs 13,234, respectively. The plans offer a download speed of 12 Mbps.