There is not a shred of doubt that the stepping of Reliance Jio into the broadband segment is going to be a sound of trumpet for a possibly upcoming battle in the broadband industry. The Mukesh Ambani led telecom operator is gearing up for launching its services after the finalisation of its last mile connectivity, whereas other players like ACT Fibernet are increasing their presence with the introduction of new brand identity, attractive offers and new plans. Another operator, which is also taking baby steps in the industry is Tata Sky Broadband. Initially a DTH provider, the company has leveraged its extensive presence in the country to roll out broadband services as well. In a new update, the company has announced three new cities where it has started operations.

Tata Sky Broadband Now Has Presence in a Total of 17 Cities

Last, when we reported about Tata Sky Broadband, it was during the launch of the service. The company stepped into the industry through 14 cities where it landed with different plans and offerings. These 14 cities included Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mira Bhayandar, Mumbai, Noida, Pimpri Chinchwad and Thane. The three new cities where Tata Sky Broadband is now operating are Kolkata, Pune and Jaipur. It is worth noting that Tata Sky broadband started its operations from metro cities and nearby regions only along with a few prominent Tier-II cities. Now the service provider seems to be planning towards a nationwide presence with the expansion in these new territories.

It seems that Tata Sky had planned to test the waters of broadband in the prominent cities of India first. In the second phase, the service provider is likely to hit Tier-II cities and the rest of the circles where it has no broadband presence.

Broadband Plans Starting at Rs 999

On its official website, Tata Sky Broadband has also listed several of its plans which it is shipping in these locations. The portfolio of Tata Sky is starting with the plan of Rs 999 which is providing 5 Mbps speed for one month with unlimited data. These plans start at Rs 999 and go up to Rs 3,600, the last one of which offers 550GB of data at 50 Mbps speeds. Notably, Tata Sky is now providing broadband plans in various validity periods- one month, three months, four months, six months, seven months, nine months, 11 months, 12 months, 13 months, 15 months and 16 months.

Further, Tata Sky Broadband is also providing these plans for different subscription periods as well. On the official website of the service provider, you will be able to see the various speeds, data volume FUP and the subscription periods along with the pricing for the broadband connection. Tata Sky has also noted that all the prices mentioned on its website, along with the ones we mentioned above are inclusive of all taxes. The service provider has also added that after the FUP, subscribers would experience the throttled-down speed of 1 Mbps.

Tata Sky Broadband, on its website, has also put up a connection locator tool which interested subscribers can use to check the availability of a connection in their area.

ACT Fibernet has expanded its operations to Jaipur city now, making it the 16th city. With this expansion, the Internet Service Provider (ISP) would be looking to take on the existing providers like Nextra, BSNL as they’re providing some competitive plans in the city. In total, ACT Fibernet or Atria Convergence Technologies has launched three high-speed broadband plans in Jaipur and they offer up to 150 Mbps speeds. Notably, the prices of these plans are reasonable too. On top of that, ACT Fibernet is providing some additional offers to Jaipur residents. But sadly, it did not introduce the Amazon Fire TV Stick scheme in Jaipur which is underwhelming. And yes, subscribers will also get 1.2TB or 1200GB of additional data if they choose a single plan for one year.

ACT Fibernet Broadband Plans in Jaipur Detailed

As noted, ACT Fibernet has launched a total of three plans in Jaipur and they are named as ACT Silver, ACT Gold and ACT Platinum. In other cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai, the ISP is offering more than ten broadband plans. While the plan options are very limited at three, the prices of these plans are very reasonable when compared to the same plans of ACT in other cities.

The first plan on the list is ACT Silver which offers 100 Mbps internet speeds with monthly FUP limit of 500GB along with post FUP speeds of 1 Mbps at a monthly rental of Rs 749. Users choosing the ACT Silver plan for six months will be eligible for one month of free service, zero installation charges and 300GB of additional data. And for users who choose the same plan for 12 months or one year will get two months of free service and 1200GB of additional data.

The ACT Gold plan of Rs 999 offers 150 Mbps speeds with 1000GB monthly FUP limit and 1 Mbps after FUP speeds. Lastly, the ACT Platinum plan of Rs 1,249 ships with 150 Mbps speeds and 1250GB of FUP along with post FUP speeds of 2 Mbps. Users who choose the ACT Gold and ACT Platinum for six or 12 months will be eligible for the benefits mentioned above with the ACT Silver plan.

ACT Fibernet Modifies Brand Identity

For years now, ACT Fibernet is one of the major wired broadband service providers in South Indian cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Vijayawada and others. But ACT Fibernet is looking to expand its operators across all the major cities and make itself a pan-India operator. Last month, ACT Fibernet revamped its logo and brand identity. It introduced a new scheme wherein subscribers will be eligible for free Amazon Fire TV Stick along with Fire TV Remote on six, 12-month plans.

The company is yet to announce what are the steps it’s going to take this year and how it’s going to tackle Jio GigaFiber. One feature which we would love to see from ACT Fibernet is Data Carry forward option like how Bharti Airtel, Spectra and YOU Broadband are offering.

ACT Fibernet, India’s largest fibre broadband service provider has launched its services in Lucknow. In an event held in February, the company had announced the launch of its new brand identity and logo and had also shared plans about its rapid India expansion plan with a futuristic vision. It is worth noting that ACT Fibernet is planning to launch new services and offers for the subscribers. Aligned with that vision, ACT Fibernet’s launch in Lucknow comes as a good addition in its already existing network which spans extensively in the metro cities. The ISP is also one of the leading providers shipping such high speeds to subscribers at affordable prices.

ACT Fibernet has also announced that its plans will be available to the customers starting March 2 in Lucknow and to open up its services, the provider will be bringing three plans for the consumers. Not only this, ACT Fibernet has been known for shipping exciting offers for the subscribers which make its plans even more attractive. Making no exception here, the service provider has also listed offers which will be going live in Lucknow with the launch of its new plans.

ACT Fibernet Plans Available in Lucknow

The first plan which will be available in ACT Fibernet’s portfolio in Lucknow will be the ACT Silver plan of Rs 749, and it will be available for one, six or twelve-month time period, and it will ship 100 Mbps speed with FUP data of 500GB. The offer with this plan is providing a one-month free subscription to the customers along with 300GB data on buying the six months plan. On buying the 12 months plan, subscribers will get two months free and 1200GB additional data.

The second plan by ACT will be the ACT Gold plan of Rs 999 which will also be available for subscription for one, six or twelve-month time period and it will provide 150 Mbps speed with 1000GB data. The offer for this plan will be similar to the previous one. Lastly, there will be the ACT Platinum plan which provides 150 Mbps speed, and 1250GB data to the subscribers and its monthly rental is Rs 1249. For this plan, subscribers will get the same offer wherein, a subscription of six months will get them one free month and 300GB additional data, and a subscription of 12 months will get them two free months and 1200GB additional data.

ACT Fibernet Launches Services in Jaipur

It is worth noting that ACT Fibernet is on the task of launching services in new regions to expand its footprint across India. The provider has already announced that it will be forming content partnerships in the coming days to broaden its offerings along with providing exclusive support for gaming activities. This week, ACT Fibernet has also announced the start of its operations in Jaipur as well.

Atria Convergence Technologies (ACT Fibernet) which is currently in an expansion mode today announced a strategic partnership with leading entertainment service, Netflix. This partnership will enable ACT Fibernet customers to save some costs on their monthly Netflix bill. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) stated that its existing and new customers who select from the newly introduced six-month and 12-month ‘Entertainment’ plans would be able to pay their monthly Netflix subscription through ACT Fibernet’s bill. If a customer pays through ACT Fibernet’s bill, the company will provide an assured cashback of up to Rs 350 per month on their ACT bills, which will be added to their ACT accounts.

ACT Fibernet-Netflix Offer Explained

As noted, customers selecting the newly launched Entertainment plans will receive a cashback of up to Rs 350 every month on their ACT Fibernet bill. The offer will be available for ACT Fibernet customers from tomorrow, March 7, 2019, across Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad. The Bengaluru-based wired service provider also stated that it would subsequently expand the Netflix offer to other markets in the future. ACT Fibernet currently has operations in 17 cities with the new ones being Jaipur and Lucknow.

Speaking on the partnership, Ravi Karthik, Marketing Head, Atria Convergence Technologies said, ” In line with our brand philosophy ‘Feel the Advantage’, we are excited to partner with Netflix, one of the most preferred choices of entertainment for our customers, and provide exceptional benefits and convenience to our users who will now be able to stream and enjoy the best of 4K and HD content seamlessly.

Coming to the offer details, customers will have to subscribe to Netflix and link their account to the ACT Fibernet bill. After successful payment, ACT will provide cashback of up to Rs 350 into their ACT account which can be used to make payments in the future.

ACT Fibernet-Netflix Eligible Plans

Aforesaid, this offer from ACT Fibernet will be valid in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and Delhi cities. In Bengaluru city, the Netflix offer is applicable on ACT Storm, ACT Lightning, ACT Incredible and ACT Giga broadband plans. Likewise, in Hyderabad, the offer is available on ACT A Max-1050, A-Max-1299, ACT Incredible and ACT Giga. In Chennai, the ACT Entertainment variants are available on ACT Blast Promo, ACT Storm, ACT Lightning, ACT Thunder, ACT Incredible and ACT Giga. Similarly, in Delhi, the ACT Entertainment variants are available on ACT Platinum Promo, and ACT Diamond broadband plans.

Do make a note that ACT Fibernet customers can avail the cashback only by subscribing to six-month or 12-month plan mentioned above. Also, the cashback amount differs with every plan and the amount has been mentioned plan-wise in the table above.

Customers Can Avail Other Offers on Six or 12 Months Subscription

On top of the Netflix offer, if a customer chooses the plans mentioned above for six or 12 months, then they will be eligible for other offers as well. For example, in Bengaluru city, ACT Fibernet is giving additional 1500GB data on top of the existing pack’s data benefit. Additionally, users will also be eligible for up to two months of free service on long-validity subscription offer. At the moment, it’s unknown whether subscribers will get the free Amazon Fire TV Stick or not.

Back in January, Reliance Jio Infocomm and its subsidiaries had applied for clearance from the Competition Commission of India (CCI) for buying a significant stake in the two cable and broadband companies – DEN Networks and Hathway Cable and Datacom which was granted to the telecom operator. The parent company of Reliance Jio filed the clearance, Reliance Industries Limited acquired 66% stake in DEN Networks for Rs 2290 crore and 51.3% stake for Rs 2,940 crore in Hathway Cable and Datacom, and along with that, RIL had also claimed a small stake in GTPL Hathway. Now, news has surfaced revealing that RIL has increased its stake in DEN Networks thus giving it more control in the company.

Reliance Industries Limited Increases Stake in DEN Networks

As per the disclosures of SEBI Regulations for Substantial Acquisitions of Shares and Takeovers (SAST), three Reliance Jio companies have issued information to the stock exchanges that they have increased their holdings in Indian multi-system operator (MSO) Den Networks from 66.57% to 78.62%, meaning that the telco has increased its stake by 12.05% which translates to roughly 5.75 crore shares.

It is worth noting that while Reliance Jio has been teasing the launch of its service, Reliance Jio GigaFiber and JioTV for quite some time, the telco had been facing hurdles in the last mile connectivity for FTTH. However, to resolve these issues, Reliance Jio bought stakes in cable companies in one sweep which included big names in the industry like DEN Networks and Hathway Cable and Datacom. With these companies under its banner, now Reliance Jio will be able to delve its hands into last mile connectivity for its subsidiaries.

Reliance Jio’s Investment in Cable Companies to be Done Using SPVs

The investment in these companies will be made by six Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) which will be owned and controlled by Digital Media Distribution Trust of which Reliance Content Distribution Limited, a wholly-owned subsidiary of RIL, is the sole beneficiary. The Mukesh Ambani led telecom operator in its Annual General Meeting of 2018 had announced that Reliance Jio GigaFiber would be rolled out to 1,100 cities in India based on the interest received from each town. During its Q3 filings, the telco had said that it had seen an immense response from the consumers during the registration phase of its FTTH service.

It had also announced that the services which will be rolled out under the GigaFiber banner would be Home broadband, Entertainment, Smart Home Solutions, Wireline, and Enterprise. Last we heard, Reliance Jio was rolling out the service to consumers on a priority basis while expanding the service area slowly.

BSNL has been making a lot of stirs in the news lately with the launch of its new plans, introduction of 4G services in select areas and some surprising revisions. The government led telecom operator has yet again introduced a new offering which is bound to attract some attention from the subscribers. The state-led telecom operator will be providing a free broadband trial to its landline subscribers, and they won’t have to pay any fee upfront. As per BSNL’s website, the broadband trial activation will be valid till March 31, 2019, and till then, these users will enjoy all the benefits of BSNL broadband. BSNL has also announced that currently, this plan is only available for all the subscribers across the country.

Offer Concludes on March 31, 2019

BSNL subscribers should note that if they want to get the free broadband trial from BSNL, then they must be an existing landline customer. This offer is not valid for new BSNL landline customers. The government led telco has also noted that there will zero monthly rental for the subscribers who are trying the BSNL broadband service under this offer and they also won’t have to pay any security deposit. As per the trial details, subscribers will enjoy 5GB data at 10 Mbps after which the speed will be throttled down to 1 Mbps. BSNL has further notified that the free data will be valid for one month from the date of activation, which means that if you sign up for the free trial then your trial won’t be ended on March 31, 2019, however, to get the benefit of this free trial you will have to activate the service before the given date.

BSNL 5GB Broadband Trial Offer Details

Also, BSNL has informed the interested subscribers of this free trial that in case they do not cancel the plan then they will be migrated to a BB plan of their choice or if they do not make a choice, then BSNL will upgrade them by default to the BB BSNL CUL plan. It is worth noting that the BB BSNL CUL plan is one of the most popular broadband offerings by BSNL currently as it ships 1.5GB data per day to the users at 8 Mbps speed and offers a post-FUP speed of 1 Mbps. The fixed monthly rental for this plan has been pegged at Rs 299 and subscribers can start with the plan with a security deposit of Rs 500. Also, BSNL is presently offering a cashback offer of 25% on its annual broadband subscription, which means that if you opt for a yearly plan you will be able to save 25% on your bills. The plan also bundles unlimited free calling to BSNL network in India and Rs 300 worth of free calling to other networks within India.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), in its consumer-centric move, had revised many of its broadband plans along with its prepaid recharge plans to attract more subscribers and to keep its existing subscriber base intact. In its previous revision back in February, BSNL had converted some of its broadband plans into plans with daily data limits. Among the plans which were revised were the Rs 2,499 broadband plan which had started offering 40GB daily data limit. Some of the other FTTH plans which had undergone revision were Rs 777, Rs 1,277, Rs 3,999, Rs 5,999, Rs 9,999 and Rs 16,999. Now in its latest move, BSNL has yet again revised some of its plans from the packs as mentioned earlier to offer data without any daily limit. The subscribers will appreciate the move as now they get to access data without any speed throttle.

Revision of Rs 777 and Rs 1277 Fibre Broadband Plan Details

In its February revision of plans, the Fibro Combo ULD 777 plan was converted into ‘18GB plan’ as it was providing 18GB of data per day with 50 Mbps speed. Now the same plan has been converted to ‘500GB plan’ as it offers 500GB data without any daily limit. The data speed will be 50 Mbps up to 500GB data; after that, the speed will be throttled down to 2 Mbps. Rs 1277 plan which was named ‘25GB plan’ was offering 25GB data per day, and it was also changed in the latest revision to provide 750GB data in the billing cycle with 100 Mbps speed and a post-FUP speed of 2 Mbps.

Unchanged Plans in BSNL Fibre Broadband Portfolio

The rest of the plans in the BSNL Fibre portfolio remain unchanged. The Rs 2499 plan which is also named as ‘40GB plan’ offers 40GB daily data to the subscribers at 100 Mbps and provides a post-FUP speed of 2 Mbps. Subsequently, the 50GB plan offers 50GB data per day with 100 Mbps speed and post-FUP speed of 4 Mbps. The monthly rental for this plan is Rs 3999. BSNL also has more fibre plans which include an 80GB plan for Rs 5999, 120GB plan for Rs 9999 and 170GB plan for Rs 16999. All these plans offer a speed of 100 Mbps and a post-FUP speed of 4 Mbps.

Revision Likely to Please BSNL Fibre Broadband Customers

It is worth noting that BSNL had previously converted some of its non-fibre broadband plans into daily data plans and the move wasn’t well received by the consumers. The probable reason is that a broadband customer is likely to have a massive data usage which might be sometimes hindered by a daily data limit and since the plans in the lower rungs offer much less daily data limit, it is easier to run into a brick wall when you exhaust your FUP daily data. As such, the new move is going to be a pleasing one for the subscribers of these BSNL fibre broadband plans as they will get to enjoy their entire data limit without any interruption.

Cable and TV broadband service provider, Hathway Cable and Datacom has finally surpassed the government led broadband service provider MTNL to take the fourth spot in the wired broadband rankings by subscribers. According to the data released by Trai for January 2019, Hathway has earned the fourth spot in the chart while MTNL has slipped to the fifth position. To recall, Hathway and MTNL were in a head to head competition as per the stats of December 2018. In December, both Hathway and MTNL had 0.78 million subscribers. However, in just one month, Hathway added 10,000 subscribers whereas MTNL lost 10,000 subscribers giving an upper hand to Hathway Cable and Datacom.

Hathway Cable and Datacom Registers 10,000 New Subscribers

As per the data obtained in January, by the end of the month, the top wired broadband service providers were BSNL with 9.17 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel with 2.30 million subscribers, Atria Convergence Technologies with 1.40 million subscribers, Hathway Cable & Datacom with 0.79 million subscribers and MTNL with 0.77 million. In December 2018, the rankings for wired broadband service did not look like this. BSNL did not go through any change in its subscriber count, whereas Airtel was at 2.27 million subscribers, Atria Convergence Technologies was at 1.39 million subscribers, and both MTNL and Hathway Cable and Datacom were at 0.78 million subscribers.

Speaking of the entire broadband market, wireless and wired, the constitution of the companies according to subscriber base looked vastly different. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd stood at the top with 289.44 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel boasted of having 110.25 million subscribers, Vodafone Idea had 109.86 million subscribers, BSNL had 20.81 million subscribers and Tata Tele Group with 2.26 million subscribers.

Reliance Jio Infocomm Leads the Group in Overall Broadband Services

In the wireless broadband segment, the top service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd with 289.44 million subscribers, Vodafone Idea with 109.84 million customers, Bharti Airtel with 107.96 million subscribers, BSNL with 11.64 million subscribers and Tata Teleservices with 1.79 million customers. It is worth noting that companies like Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd and Vodafone Idea have their most share in wireless broadband segment only. Whereas, that is not the case with BSNL and Airtel, as they boast of a significant number of wired broadband customers as well. However, with the launch of Reliance Jio GigaFiber in a few weeks, the figures may change again very fast.

Launch of Jio GigaFiber Likely to Bring Massive Change in Industry

The change in the subscriber base of Hathway Cable and Datacom hints that the industry is going in for rapid volatility in a short period and the subscribers are switching their service providers without hesitation. In the coming few months, we might also see the launch of Reliance Jio GigaFiber which will be Mukesh Ambani led telco’s FTTH service. Also, we can already see the other players in the broadband segment like ACT Fibernet, Airtel and Hathway ramping up their operations to prepare for another likely blow by Reliance Jio, this time in the broadband playing field.

There has been a lot of buzz concerning Reliance Jio GigaFiber service in the industry already. Other operators who provide wired broadband services are also gearing up for the upcoming competition which the Mukesh Ambani led telecom operator will bring to the playing field. However, it should also be noted that Reliance Jio is already providing FTTH services in a handful of cities and is knocking on doors of prospective customers to expand its network. Now with substantial stakes in some of the big cable companies like Hathway and DEN Networks, the telco will be rolling out its services in full throttle after a few days which leads to another question, that is, how much the Reliance Jio GigaFiber service will cost, and what will the plans look like? Now, although we have a clear picture about one plan of Reliance Jio GigaFiber, there is another ‘Triple Play’ plan of Reliance Jio GigaFiber which might be in the pipeline.

Reliance Jio Triple Play Plan Details

As noted, Reliance Jio is already providing Jio GigaFiber services to its employees and normal customers in various parts of the country. Jio seems to be testing a new Triple Play plan on FTTH connections which are on its employees’ name, as the plan has been spotted on the company’s website inside the login of Jio GigaFiber account. Although there is no news about the pricing of this plan at the current moment, we know about the benefits which the GigaFiber Triple Plan will offer to its subscribers. The triple plan will come with 28 days validity, and it will offer 100GB of high-speed data (could be capped at 100 Mbps), unlimited voice calling, Jio Home TV subscription and also access to Jio’s portfolio of apps. This also confirms that Jio’s IPTV service will be termed as Jio Home TV.

It is worth noting that while general users are getting to see the usual plan which carries 100GB data at 100 Mbps speed for 30 days in addition to the 1000GB bonus data divided into sachets of 40GB, this Triple Play plan is something which is currently exclusive to employees of Reliance Jio who have taken the FTTH connection. It is safe to assume that since Reliance Jio is now testing this new plan with its employees, it will also be rolling it out for the users in a few weeks.

The interesting aspect here is the Jio Home TV presence. There were several rumours stating that Jio is conducting trials of its IPTV service (dubbed as Jio Giga TV) with its employees which seem to be true as the plan clearly states users will get access to Jio Home TV for 28 days. Furthermore, Jio seems to be bringing your broadband, TV and other bills into a single bill; This is one of the options which is found in other countries and we might see Jio starting the same in India when it launches the services commercially.

Reliance Jio GigaFiber Rollout Update

Although the pilot testing for Reliance Jio’s FTTH service has been ongoing for a few months now, the telco is now on to the task of doing a ramp up for the “Area Ready for Sale” (RFS) rollout for its GigaFiber services. The RFS process means that the representatives of the company are reaching out to the authorities in societies and private homes to ask for deployment. As part of this process, Reliance Jio is reaching out to both Multiple Dwelling Units (MDUs) like apartments and Single Dwelling Units (SDUs) like independent private homes as well.

Inputs: Nikhil Sharma

ACT Fibernet has been on the rise lately, the broadband service provider has been making some major announcements. Only a few months back, the company announced its rebranded logo and announced audacious plans for the future. But now, ACT Fibernet has come up with the ACT Stream TV 4K. The company has also partnered up with various content providers and is putting a major emphasis on gaming as well. In a major event held in Bengaluru, ACT Fibernet announced the launch of the ACT Stream TV 4K. This comes aligned with ACT’s vision of becoming one of the most prominent in-home entertainment company. The new ACT Stream TV 4K will be aimed at clubbing some of the most demanded onscreen services like Live TV, on-demand content services and other apps.

Seeing the explosion of the popularity of on-demand content and ten times increase in peak traffic in the last five years, ACT Fibernet said that consumers are likely to want a product which houses the capabilities of a streaming service and also pair a DTH connection. Instead of using a separate service for each task, ACT Fibernet’s Stream TV 4K will come in handy for the users. The company said that the device is “future ready” as it will also stream in 4K. This device from ACT Fibernet will directly compete with Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K in India.

ACT Stream TV 4K Features

The Stream TV 4K will provide a Home – Hub to the consumer which will house all the favourite content of the users. People will also be able to explore new content, see what’s going on live and much more. What will empower ACT’s new offering is the content partnerships with big names like Netflix, ZEE5, SonyLiv, YouTube and more. The Stream TV 4K will also be able to connect gaming joysticks, Bluetooth mouse, keyboards and more.

The new platform from ACT Fibernet will also provide access to the Play Store from where users will be able to download more than 3000 apps. Also, the channels from your Live TV will be displayed in the Home – Hub section. These channels will also be sorted across genres for easy access. The platform will also provide a “catch up” feature which will help the users catch up on missed shows with up to 24 hours of buffer period. The company CTO also highlighted that the consumers would be able to customise their home screen. He further added that the platform would support voice control powered by Google Assistant.

ACT Fibernet also talked about the remote of this new platform, which the company boasted, sports a very simplistic design and comes with Bluetooth support. The remote will even come with four hot buttons to quickly access Netflix, YouTube, Apps and Live TV.

ACT Stream TV 4K Pricing

The Stream TV 4K has been priced at Rs 4499, and as an introductory offer, the company will be extending its benefits to 5000 select customers. Do make a note that ACT Fibernet will start bundling the Stream TV 4K with its select broadband plans post the commercial launch in May 2019. Furthermore, ACT Fibernet customers can subscribe to premium content from existing OTT streaming partners and channels that have tied up with ACT Fibernet and pay for their subscription directly as part of their monthly bill. ACT Fibernet recently partnered with Netflix and providing up to Rs 350 discount to the subscribers who bill their Netflix subscription through ACT.

It is worth noting that in the past few months, ACT Fibernet has partnered up with GamerConnect – India’s premium gaming showcase platform. The company has also partnered up with SonyLiv, ZEE5 Netflix and more. The company also launched its services in Jaipur and Lucknow within the past two months.

Atria Convergence Technologies, also known as ACT Fibernet has revealed its full-year numbers for the financial year 2018. During the period, ACT Fibernet’ subscriber base saw an increase from 1.15 million to 1.39 million at the end of FY18, as reported by Television Post. While the company added a decent amount of subscribers, the Average Revenue per User (ARPU) of the company has seen a massive decline; At the end of FY17, ARPU of ACT Fibernet was Rs 891 per month, but it declined to Rs 760 per month at the end of FY18. That said, broadband subscribers are choosing long-term plans over monthly plans these days due to the additional offers provided by Internet Service Providers. ACT Fibernet also reported a 10.2% increase in the company’s net profit.

ACT Fibernet Posts 10.2% Increase in Net Profit During FY18

As mentioned above, ACT Fibernet’s net profit during FY18 stood at Rs 201.2 crore compared to Rs 182.57 crore in FY17. Going by the report, the Profit before interest, lease, depreciation, and tax (PBILDT) of the broadband operator increased by 5.32% to Rs 531.9 crore as opposed to Rs 503.6 crore in FY17. The overall revenue of ACT Fibernet stood at Rs 1,298 crore at the end of FY18 which is an increase of 12.93% from Rs 1149.3 crore.

Since the start of 2019, ACT Fibernet has been aggressively expanding its operations across the country. Last month, it launched services in Lucknow and Jaipur; Overall, ACT Fibernet is providing services in 16 cities across the country and it’s even looking to expand operations in North India as well.

With the threat of Reliance Jio GigaFiber looming around, ACT Fibernet is looking to offer better services to its existing users. As part of the same, it has partnered with several content providers with the most recent one being Netflix. ACT Fibernet subscribers choosing long-term plans will be eligible to get a discount of up to Rs 350 on their monthly Netflix subscription bill.

ACT Stream TV 4K Launched to Take on Amazon Fire TV Stick

Just a couple of days ago, ACT Fibernet announced its ACT Stream TV 4K device in India priced at Rs 4,499. As the name itself suggests, it’s a streaming device launched to take on the likes of Amazon Fire TV Stick and Google Chromecast in India. The streaming device from ACT Fibernet will be available for purchase later in May 2019, but for now, it will be testing the device with 5,000 users in India.

ACT Fibernet is currently taking users interest on the ACT Stream TV 4K. If you’re interested in testing the device, head over to ACT Fibernet’s website and click the ACT Stream TV tab to register your interest, post which the company will get in touch with you to hand over the device. ACT also stated that it would bundle the ACT Stream TV 4K device with some of its broadband plans in the future.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the state-led telecom operator is one of the largest wired broadband service provider in India right now and even while being in a grim situation and under widening losses, the telco is going strong in this segment. We also recently saw BSNL remove the daily data cap on two of its most popular Fibre-to-the-Home (FTTH) plans. In addition to that, these plans come with many offers and discounts as well which makes them more attractive for the users. With these broadband plans, BSNL is providing up to 100 Mbps speeds, 170GB of daily data and also free Amazon Prime subscription. For your ease, we have decided to compile a list of all the Bharat Fibre FTTH plans which BSNL is currently offering right now.

BSNL FTTH 500GB Plan

The 500GB plan by BSNL is the first plan in the long series of Bharat Fibre FTTH plans. This plan offers 500GB data for an entire month at 50 Mbps speed, and then the speed is throttled down to 2 Mbps post the FUP-exhaustion. The monthly rental of this plan is Rs 777. There is also the annual payment option on this plan for Rs 7,770.

BSNL FTTH 750GB Plan

Just like the previous plan and as the name suggests, the 750GB Plan by BSNL offers 750GB data to the subscribers in the entire month with a 100 Mbps speed and a 2 Mbps speed post-FUP exhaustion. The monthly rental of this plan is Rs 1,277, and the annual payment option is available for Rs 12,770.

BSNL FTTH 40GB Plan

The 40GB Plan and all the rest of the plans above this plan, offer daily data limit and as the name points, the plan provides 40GB daily data to the subscribers at 100 Mbps speed and 2 Mbps post-FUP speed. The rental of this plan is Rs 2,499, and the annual payment option in this plan will be available as per the ongoing cashback offer.

BSNL FTTH 50GB Plan

The 50GB FTTH plan by BSNL offers 50GB of data per day at 100 Mbps speed and a post-FUP speed of 4 Mbps. The monthly rental of this plan is Rs 3,999, and the annual payment option for this plan is available at Rs 39,990. The plan offers 100 Mbps speed till 50GB data usage per day, and then the speed throttles down to 4 Mbps. Another thing to note is that in addition to being unavailable in A&N (Andaman & Nicobar) circle, this plan and the next 80GB plan are unavailable in Maharashtra circle too.

BSNL FTTH 80GB Plan

The 80GB Plan offers 80GB of data access to the users with 100 Mbps speed, after that the speed declines to 6 Mbps. The monthly rental of this plan is Rs 5,999 with the annual payment option available for Rs 59,990.

BSNL FTTH 120GB Plan

The 120GB Plan in the list of Bharat Fibre FTTH plans offer 120GB data per day at 100 Mbps speed and then the speed shifts down to 8 Mbps. The rental of this plan is a whopping Rs 9,999 per month with the annual plan being priced at Rs 99,990. What’s worth noting is that the plan is unavailable in Gujarat and Maharashtra circle, apart from being barred from A&N.

BSNL FTTH 170GB Plan

The 170GB Plan is the most highly priced plan in this list. As you’d expect, this plan offers 170GB data per day at 100 Mbps and a post-FUP speed of 10 Mbps. The plan is priced at Rs 16999 per month, and the annual subscription fee is Rs 1,69,990. However, this plan is available in all BSNL circles except A&N, Gujarat, Maharashtra & MP.

Also, all the FTTH plans mentioned above come with free Amazon Prime subscription for one year worth Rs 999.

As per Hathway Cable and Datacom Ltd’s statement, the new pricing framework introduced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) resulted in altercations in the pricing mechanisms of the industry, arrangements among the company, LCOs, broadcasters and even brought about a change in equity infusion. The new Trai tariff regime was introduced in the fourth quarter of the FY19, and it has brought a one-time impact on the financial statements of the company which are being disclosed as ‘Exceptional Items’. As per Hathway Cable and Datacom Limited report, the exceptional items in FY19 impacted the company to the extent of Rs 429.62 crores whereas this figure was a meagre Rs 5.34 crore in the FY18.

Financials Take a Dip for Hathway Cable and Datacom Post NTO

Hathway Cable and Datacom remain already under reeling losses and is troubled by lower operating revenue and operating losses from its cable business. These losses reflected on Hathway’s financials sheets pretty clearly as the company reported a higher after-tax loss of Rs 187.67 crore as compared to its net loss of Rs 107.86 crore. This news is reported by Indian Television.

The losses for Hathway could have been even higher but thanks to deferred taxes which run up to Rs 438.95 crore that hasn’t happened for this FY. The company has remarked that the deferred tax assets recognised during the period are mainly in respect of unabsorbed depreciation allowance available for set off for an indefinite period in terms of applicable tax laws. The company also said that in the light of revision of growth strategy of the company and given the introduction of the new NTO from Trai, the Hathway Cable management is quite sure about taxable income in the upcoming months thus paving the way for deferred tax assets.

Some of the other exceptional items reported by Hathway Cable and Datacom include writing down of property plant and equipment which stretch to Rs 69.83 crore. There were also other expenses related to equity infusion for the company which cost it Rs 25.87 crore. In the Q4 FY19, Hathway Cable had allotted 908,810,000 equity shares of Rs 2 each at a premium of Rs 30.35 per share to its acquirers on a preferential basis. The shared were granted to Jio Content Distribution Holdings Private Ltd, Jio Internet Distribution Holdings Private Ltd and Jio Cable and Broadband Holdings Private Ltd. The total shared aggregated to Rs 2,940 crores representing 51.34% of after allotment equity share capital of the company.

Also, what’s crucial to note is that Hathway has two segments – broadband and cable TV. The broadband segment of Hathway witnessed 3.1% decline to Rs 527.63 crore as compared to the Rs 544.54 crore which was the standing figure in FY18. The operating result of the segment saw a massive decline of two thirds and more, a depreciation of almost 67.7% in FY19 at Rs 42.01 crore in contrast to the Rs 130.25 crore in FY 2018.

For the cable TV segment of Hathway Cable and Datacom, revenue increased 4.1% in FY19 to Rs 1,030.66 crore from Rs 990.08 crore in FY18. The segment’s operating loss in FY 2019 went up to Rs 457.46 crore, rising from Rs 129.33 crore in FY 2018.

Additional Numbers Reported by Hathway Cable and Datacom

The revenue by operations went up by 1.5% for Hathway Cable and Datacom in FY 2019 and stood at Rs 1,558.29 crore in contrast to Rs 1,534.62 crore for FY 2018. The total income for this period was pegged at Rs 1,619.20 crore, and it was 4.8% higher as compared to Rs 1,544.36 crore which was the number in FY 2018.

Speaking of total expenses for the company, Hathway registered Rs 1,822.72 crore which was 8.1% higher than Rs 1,686.45 crore for FY 2018. The cost of pay channels was also recorded to be Rs 609.85 crore again being 8.1% higher than Rs 569.35 crore in FY 2018. Operational expenses in FY 2019 rested at Rs 253.30 crore thus coming down by 3% from the Rs 263.90 crore in FY 2018.

The EBITDA for FY 2019 stood at Rs 308.78 crore which was an 8% decrease from Rs 335.63 crore in FY 2018. Total comprehensive loss (TCL) in FY 2019 was registered to be Rs 186.53 crore as compared to TCL of Rs 105.21 crore in the FY of 2018.

Lastly, employee benefits expenses in FY 2019 were said to be at Rs 82.86 crore thus registering to be 7.6% higher than the previous number of Rs 76.99 crore in FY 2018. Finance costs in FY 2019 stood at Rs 220.8 crore which was a substantial increase of 44.5% as compared to the Rs 152.76 crore in FY 2018.

Trying to stay ahead of other Internet Service Providers (ISP), ACT Fibernet, today announced its partnership with OTT platform, ZEE5. As part of this partnership, ACT Fibernet subscribers will get one month of ZEE5 subscription worth Rs 99 for free. After one month, users will be charged Rs 99 for ZEE5 subscription through their ACT Fibernet bill itself. This is not the first time ACT Fibernet is partnering with OTT platforms as the company had earlier established partnerships with HOOQ, Hungama, ALT Balaji, among others. This offer will be available at an additional cost of Rs 99 across all the 17 cities where ACT Fibernet has its presence, said the company in a press statement.

ACT Fibernet-ZEE5 Enters into Partnership

As part of the partnership, ZEE5 will be listed on the ACT Fibernet portal where existing customers can access premium content on the basis of their subscription status. Additionally, first-time users can avail exclusive one-month free subscription through ACT Fibernet. It seems like the one-month free subscription of ZEE5 is limited only to new ZEE5 users only.

Ravi Karthik, Head of Marketing, ACT Fibernet, commented, “ZEE5 as a platform provides entertainment across languages and multiple genres and we are very excited to bring their extensive offerings to our customers. In line with our brand philosophy ‘Feel the Advantage’, we aim to provide holistic entertainment experience to our customers and with the convenience to enjoy content from best of streaming providers in this category.”

Talking about ZEE5, it’s India’s fastest growing OTT platform with over 3,500 films, more than 500 TV shows, 4000 music videos and 90+ Live TV channels across 12 languages.

How to Get One Month of Free ZEE5 Membership Via ACT Fibernet?

If you’re an ACT Fibernet subscriber and looking to avail free ZEE5 membership for one month, well, you’re in the right place. The first step you need to perform is to create a ZEE5 with the ACT Fibernet register mobile number.

Do make a note that you should be an ACT Fibernet subscriber to get the membership; If you’re one of them, head over to this website and enter your account details.

After entering the account details, you’ll be asked to enter the OTP which has been sent to your registered email ID and mobile number. Enter the mobile number and if the details provided by you are correct, then ACT Fibernet will display a message as ‘HURRAY! Your Zee5 services have been activated.’

Now, download the ZEE5 app from Google Play Store or App Store and log in with the account you’ve created earlier to enjoy the membership free for 30 days. ZEE5 is currently streaming some of the popular movies which got released in recent times such as Simba, URI and popular international content is available as well.

Aforesaid, ZEE5 subscription worth Rs 99 (depends on the subscription plan you choose) will be billed to your ACT Fibernet’s bill after one month.

It is no secret that after the data tariff war triggered by Reliance Jio, the telecom operators have experienced immense financial troubles. The ones especially bogged down by this data tariff war are the government led telecom operators, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL). Although we have seen BSNL introducing new plans, making plenty of revisions and rolling out some consumer-centric power moves, there has been no news from MTNL. However, that changes now as the state-run telco has made significant changes to its broadband plans. The thing to note is that these revisions are only valid in the Mumbai circle and have not been announced to be extended to Delhi. Under this offer, MTNL broadband users can avail up to 5.4TB of data with the premium Rs 7,999 broadband plan.

MTNL Broadband Plans FUP Increased by Twofold

It is worth noting that MTNL has unlimited broadband plans starting from the price range of Rs 600 and going as high as Rs 7,999. In these price ranges, MTNL offers various plans to the customers balancing data and speed as per the consumers’ choices. The telecom operator is even offering FTTH service to its customers in Mumbai thus extending 100 Mbps connection to its subscribers too.

For example, MTNL has got 6-speed options for the Rs 600 monthly rental broadband plans wherein it offers different FUP on all plans, depending on the speed. For the 6 Mbps plan, MTNL previously used to offer 80GB data, but now the telco is offering 160GB data. Similarly, for the 8 Mbps, 10 Mbps, 12 Mbps, 50 Mbps and 100 Mbps, the telecom operator used to offer 70GB, 65GB, 55GB, 45GB and 35GB data respectively, but now the telecom operator has straight away doubled these FUP limits. It is also worth noting that for the non-FTTH plans priced at Rs 600 with speeds lower than 50 Mbps, MTNL offers 150 free calls and 1 Mbps after FUP. For the FTTH plans, the telco offers 150 free calls and 2 Mbps after-FUP speed.

Double FUP Plans Valid Only for Limited Period

Similarly, MTNL has doubled its data FUP limit for all its other broadband plans. Notably, starting from Rs 1,000 and above, MTNL also offers the 14 Mbps and 16 Mbps options to the users too which include the Rs 1,000, Rs 1,200, Rs 1,500 and Rs 2,000 plans. Beyond that, the Rs 3,999 plan, the Rs 4,999 plan and the Rs 7,999 plan only come in FTTH options, offering speeds upwards of 50 Mbps and bundling upwards of 2,300GB data after this new revision.

It is worth noting that these new revisions for Mumbai circle offering double FUP data on broadband plans are not permanent and have been rolled out for a limited period only. MTNL has noted that these revisions will be live till May 31, 2019. MTNL has also added that all Closed Plan customers will get a loyalty bonus of 20GB Free Data on and above of their existing FUP in this time.

As Reliance Jio has already sounded the trumpet for its entry into the broadband segment, other players are preparing hard to put up their defences, increase their subscriber base and to lure more and more customers. It is evident that this is the reason why we are getting to see many new offers and new products from these players. Hathway Cable and Datacom which is another popular name in this sector has been on to something similar. We previously saw Hathway going strong in the fibre segment, and after the buyout of a majority stake by Reliance Jio, the operator has been causing some stir in the industry. In its latest move, Hathway has introduced a new offer for its broadband customers, wherein they will get free Hathway Play Box Android TV device with long term subscription of its broadband plans. Read further to know more about this offer.

Hathway Play Box Complimentary With Long-Term Broadband Plans

Under this offer, Hathway has announced that it will be offering the Hathway Play Box to the subscribers in Chennai who opt for 100 Mbps plans or above for two months or more. Notably, in Chennai, Hathway offers four fibre based plans providing 100 Mbps to 300 Mbps speeds. These plans start from Rs 949 per month. For this offer, the subscribers will have to shell out a minimum of Rs 2,847 for a subscription of the 100 Mbps plan for three months which offers 1TB FUP limit monthly. Alternatively, they can opt for higher priced plans which provide much more speed. The offer will be eligible on a subscription of two months or more on even the pricier plans. Similarly, we have confirmed with Hathway that this offer will be available in other cities like Hyderabad as well, but there could be a few tweaks depending on the city of service.

Play Box Android TV Based STB Features and Price

To recall, Hathway had launched the Play Box Android TV STB device back in January for a retail price of Rs 2,999. This product by Hathway is unlike a traditional set-top box and also combines other features like Google Play Support, using which customers will be able to experience Netflix, YouTube and Amazon Prime Video. This way, the users will be able to stream Android-based content on their big screens. Hathway has talked about rolling out support for other OTT services as well in the future for the Play Box.

Interestingly, Hathway is also providing some attractive offers with its Play Box Android TV STB, wherein users can avail Rs 1,000 off in total on their Netflix subscription for two months. Additionally, they will get 12 months of free Sun NXT subscription and lastly two months of complimentary YUPP TV and ZEE5 subscription as well.

The announcement of the commercial launch of the Reliance Jio GigaFiber has sounded the trumpet for a new war in the broadband sector. It is no doubt that the Mukesh Ambani led telecom operator has plans of disrupting the broadband and DTH segment as it did for the 4G network back in 2016 and as part of its plans it is bound to release plans with attractive prices. The rival broadband and DTH players like ACT Fibernet and even the conventional players like BSNL have been revising their broadband plans and increasing their efforts in the sector. However, Tata Sky faces a two-way threat from Reliance Jio as it will take the hit on DTH and broadband, both fronts. Under its latest move, the DTH and broadband service provider has now expanded its operations to 20 cities.

Tata Sky Introduces Operations in Three New Cities

In its initial days, Tata Sky had started its operations by launching in 14 cities where it introduced different plans and offerings. These 14 cities included Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhopal, Chennai, Delhi, Ghaziabad, Greater Noida, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Mira Bhayandar, Mumbai, Noida, Pimpri Chinchwad and Thane. In its next phase, Tata Sky expanded its broadband operations to three more cities, Kolkata, Pune and Jaipur. Now the operator has also expanded to 3 more towns thus totalling the cities of service under Tata Sky broadband to 20. The three new cities under Tata Sky broadband include Surat, Navi Mumbai and Lucknow.

We had previously iterated in the report that Tata Sky was likely testing the waters of broadband in the metro cities and it had plans of expanding to tier-II cities in the next move, and that seems to be the case with the provider right now.

Tata Sky Removes FUP on Broadband Plans

Tata Sky has also listed a plethora of plans on its website for the consumers, and these plans start at the price of Rs 999 per month. The interesting thing to note is that Tata Sky is providing unlimited data on these plans and the initial plan from Tata Sky is available for Rs 999, and this one offers 10 Mbps speed. More plans in the Tata Sky broadband portfolio include Rs 1,250 plan providing 25 Mbps, Rs 1,500 plan providing 50 Mbps, Rs 1,800 plan providing 75 Mbps, Rs 2,400 plan providing 100 Mbps. There is also the option of fixed GB plans for subscribers which are more economical options and these plans also begin with Rs 999, provide 50 Mbps speed and 90GB data.

Tata Sky broadband is also providing these plans for various validity periods. The subscribers will have the option of subscribing to these plans for a month, 3 months, 5 months, 6 months, and 12 months.

Reliance Jio is on the verge of commercially launching its fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) service, Jio GigaFiber, in India. The telecom operator is already providing the service in metros. This also signals towards a new wave of intense competition in India in the broadband sector, which has already alerted the other broadband service providers. One major name that comes to our minds is ACT Fibernet which has been increasingly popular in the last few years in cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and more. ACT Fibernet has been increasing its prominence in the previous few months and asserting dominance with the launch of its new brand identity, by foraying into consumer product segment, and with the launch of Stream TV 4K and more. In its latest move, the company has announced its operations in Ahmedabad.

ACT Fibernet Plans Available in Ahmedabad

In a new tweet from ACT Fibernet, the service provider has noted “@ACTFibernet expands its amazing internet services to Ahmedabad. Are you ready to experience entertainment with ACT Fibernet?” Currently, the service provider has introduced three new plans for the new subscribers in Ahmedabad.

The first of these three plans is the popular ACT Advantage plan which offers 100 Mbps connection with a 500GB FUP data limit. Post the exhaustion of the FUP, the speed is throttled down to 1 Mbps. The monthly rental of this plan has been set at Rs 749.

The second plan in the ACT Fibernet roster for Ahmedabad customers is the ACT Lightning plan which offers 150 Mbps speed and 1000GB FUP data. After the exhaustion of FUP data, the subscribers will experience a throttled down speed of 2 Mbps. The monthly rental of this plan has been set at Rs 999.

The third plan available for ACT Fibernet subscribers in Ahmedabad is the ACT Remarkable plan which offers 300 Mbps speed along with 2,500GB of FUP data. The after-FUP speed of this plan is 3 Mbps, and subscribers will pay a monthly rental of Rs 1,899 on this plan.

ACT Fibernet Netflix Cashback Offer in Other Circles

ACT Fibernet has currently not informed about any offers that it will be rolling out in Ahmedabad. However, in other cities where ACT Fibernet is operating, it is offering attractive freebies and long term plan options for the subscribers. For example, ACT Fibernet is shipping a Netflix offer in Delhi, Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad through which subscribers will be able to save up to Rs 500 on their monthly Netflix bill. Coming to the offer details, customers will have to subscribe to Netflix and link their account to the ACT Fibernet bill. After successful payment, ACT will provide a cashback of up to Rs 500 into their ACT account which can be used to make payments in the future.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has released its subscribers’ report for the quarter ending in March 2019. The sector regulator has compiled the data for these months, and it also gives us insight into the telecom industry, and how many subscribers have been added to the respective telecom operators or networks. The data has been divided across many verticals like the addition of wireless or wired broadband subscribers. The first thing to note is the addition of wired broadband subscribers, which denotes that the subscribers have increased by 0.72% to 18.42 million in March compared to 18.29 million in February.

Top Five Telcos Dominating 98.67% of Broadband Market

The total broadband subscribers have increased by 2.37% to 563.31 million from 550.24 million, including both wired and wireless verticals. A total of 98.67% of the entire broadband market share was dominated by the top five service providers at the end of March. These companies included Reliance Jio Infocomm with 306.72 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel with 114.62 million subscribers, Vodafone Idea with 110.22 million subscribers, BSNL with 22.14 million subscribers and Tata Tele Group with 2.10 million subscribers.

In case of wired broadband services, the top service providers remained BSNL with 9.21 million subscribers, Bharti Airtel with 2.36 million subscribers, Atria Convergence Technologies with 1.42 million subscribers, Hathway Cable & Datacom with 0.81 million subscribers and MTNL with 0.76 million subscribers. The situation was a little different in case of wireless broadband services as the market was dominated by the companies which included Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd at the top with 306.72 million customers, Bharti Airtel with 112.26 million customers, Vodafone Idea with 110.20 million customers, BSNL with 12.93 million customers and Tata Teleservices with 1.68 million customers.

Reliance Jio Adds More than Nine Million Subscribers in Previous Quarter

Considering the top three private telecom operators in the country, Reliance Jio Infocomm added 9.4 million subscribers in this period, thus pushing its subscriber base to 307.7 million. Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel saw a decline in this regard as their subscriber base fell by 14.5 million and 15.1 million customers, respectively, to take their subscriber bases to 394.8 million and 325.2 million, the Trai data highlighted.

Speaking of market share, Vodafone Idea still stayed on top of the charts with 33.98% market share, followed by Bharti Airtel at 27.99% and Reliance Jio with 26.40%. Trai has also noted that the total telephone subscribers in India have declined and the number which was 1,205.40 million in February 2019 has come down to 1,183.51 million at the end of March 2019, demonstrating a monthly decline rate of 1.82%. Also, a lot of subscribers ported their numbers to different operators as 5.30 million subscribers submitted their requests for Mobile Number Portability (MNP). The total number of MNP requests were 423.11 million in February to 428.40 million at the end of March 2019.

Atria Convergence Technologies, also known as ACT Fibernet, a few months ago announced its partnership with popular streaming service Netflix. As part of the partnership, ACT Fibernet is providing up to Rs 500 cashback on billing Netflix via ACT’s bill. The Internet Service Provider (ISP) while announcing the partnership with Netflix, introduced a new range of Netflix Entertainment plans to the subscribers. That said, the Netflix Entertainment broadband plans are also available as standard ACT Fibernet broadband plans, but what’s the difference you may ask; Well, the Netflix Entertainment plans from ACT Fibernet ship with extra data benefit compared to the standard broadband plans. ACT Fibernet is providing up to 500GB of extra data benefit on Netflix plans compared to the normal plans which just come with monthly broadband data.

ACT Fibernet Netflix Entertainment Plans Detailed

ACT Fibernet is providing Netflix Entertainment plans in some cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai among others. In Hyderabad city, ACT is offering four Netflix Entertainment broadband plans- A-Max 1050 Entertainment, A-Max 1299 Entertainment, ACT Incredible Entertainment and ACT Giga Entertainment. The four plans are priced at Rs 1,050, Rs 1,299, Rs 1,999 and Rs 5,999, and offers a monthly data benefit of 850GB, 1100GB, 1600GB and 2500GB.

The non-Netflix A-Max 1050 plan comes with 750GB of monthly data, A-Max 1299 ships 1000GB, Incredible 1999 plan offers 1500GB, and lastly, the ACT Giga plan provides 2TB of data benefit. As you can notice, the ACT Giga standard plan offers just 2TB of data benefit while the ACT Giga Entertainment ships with 500GB more data at 2.5TB.

So surely it’s not all about the cashback you get on the Netflix subscription as ACT Fibernet is providing up to 500GB of additional data benefit which is a good thing. The same applies to the Netflix Entertainment plans introduced in other cities like Bengaluru and Chennai.

ACT Fibernet-Netflix Partnership Details

Back in February this year, ACT Fibernet inked a deal with popular streaming service Netflix to offer a certain amount on cashback on Netflix subscription to the subscribers. Users choosing the Netflix Entertainment plans will be eligible to get a cashback of up to Rs 500 every month. But do make a note that the Netflix Entertainment plans of ACT Fibernet are only available for six months and 12 months period, so you’ll have to pay for your broadband connection in advance.

The ACT Giga Entertainment plan offers a cashback of Rs 500 on Netflix subscription every month, but to be eligible for the cashback, you’ll have to the choose the plan for 12 months up front.

After choosing any Netflix Entertainment plan, users will have to link their Netflix account to ACT Fibernet bill and subscribe to any of the Netflix plans available right now. And every month, if the subscriber pays for Netflix through ACT Fibernet, the cashback amount will be added to user’s ACT account which can be used to activate Flexybytes+ data add-ons or clear broadband bills in the future.