Airtel Broadband: Bye To Kilo, Hello To Mega Speed

Minimum DSL speed will be 4Mbps in select areas, 2Mbps in ten cities, and 1Mbps in the rest of India. Of course, the Airtel FUP stays (Fair Usage Policy), whereby your Internet speed will fall to 256 Kbps after you cross a specified data transfer limit. On the plus side, Indian consumers will now have access to affordably priced DSL plans that offer speeds in the multi-Megabit range, priced from Rs. 549 to Rs. 2099 (excluding tax).
Those who currently have unlimited plan speeds of 1Mbps and 2Mbps, can double their speed to 2Mbps and 4Mbps respectively by paying Rs. 100 more, an offer valid in select areas. While "Select Markets" is likely to be a moving target along with expanding coverage, the "Top 10 Cities" have been defined as - Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Pune. The table below is a list of the new plans announced by Airtel for June 2011.

All plans except Alpha and Ace are unlimited data transfer plans, wherein speed will drop to 256Kbps after the specified data transfer speed has been hit. The Alpha and Ace plans (highlighted in table) have data transfer limits as specified, and any further downloads/uploads will be charged at 20 paise per MB (thus Rs. 204 per GB), subject to a "bill cap" of Rs. 1,999. You'll be charged only upto the bill cap of Rs. 1999, Internet usage beyond that will be free but at a reduced speed of 256 Kbps. This is a good measure, to convince potential customers who're afraid of paying massive bill amounts if they cross over their Data Limits.

Note that the Data Limit includes both upstream and downstream traffic, so "file download" and standard web browsing/email form part of the limit. As for me, I'm just glad that Airtel has declared FUP limits for respective plans upfront, instead of being cagey and claiming to "abide by TRAI's guidelines for broadband to ensure minimum speed of 256 Kbps".