Aditya Madanapalle

Here are the fastest wired broadband providers in India. Most are Fibre to the Home (FTTH) connections, but Airtel can offer 100 Mbps speeds over copper cables. The tariffs have been updated for the month of March, 2017. According to data released by Trai, only 2,80,000 subscribers in India have access to a high-speed fibre optic connection. The average internet speed in India now stands at 4.1 Mbps, according to the latest state of the Internet report by Akamai. India has the lowest peak speeds in the APAC region. These are the best connections available in India.

Airtel: Airtel offers 100 Mbps broadband in some cities, but there is no easy way to find out which ones. You have to check for availability in your city. At times, the plans are not displayed, and a form for requesting a call back appears. Airtel has slashed prices for its plans. In Mumbai, a speed of 100 Mbps is offered with an FUP of 500 GB for Rs 3,999 every month. Airtel Broadband users can upgrade to the V-Fiber, the first time vectorisation has been introduced in India. Vectorisation is Europe's most used broadband technology, and delivers higher bandwidth by reducing the interference in the connection. The offer is available for users in Chennai as of now, and Airtel V-Fiber is rolling out in 87 cities across the country. Airtel V-Fiber is now available in Mumbai.

MTNL Fibre Thrill: MTNL is apparently offering a 10 Gbps plan for Mumbai, but it is not a publicly listed plan. According to a reader who queried about the plans, the service is available only to "good" customers and costs lakhs. The Fibre Thrill plan offers a 100 Mbps line with an FUP of 500GB for a monthly tariff of Rs 6,999. These plans have been updated for a promotional period that is to last till the end of December. The FUP quota has been increased, and will be reverted at the start of the next year.

Hayai: Hayai has upgraded its capacity and now provides 10 Gb per second broadband connectivity in Mumbai. The broadband is available in certain pincodes in Mumbai satellite cities around Mumbai, including Badlapur, Thane and Vasai. The plans are available on a monthly or yearly basis. Hayai provides 10 Gbps connectivity in the most locations. For Rs 19,999 a month, you get a practically unlimited, all you can consume plan, without any free usage policy, with a connection speed of 10 Gbps. The plans are not truly unlimited to reduce chances of abuse, such as running servers or enterprise services, or sharing the plan with everyone in the neighborhood. This is not just about maintaining the connection, but also about following regulations. Hayai has slashed the pricing on its plans, and is offering additional 100 Mbps fixed usage plans.

Reliance Ultraband: Reliance Ultraband is available only in two addresses in Mumbai. A speed of 1 gbps is offered. The locations are Seawoods Estate in Navi Mumbai and Imperial Towers in Tardeo. The pricing for the plans are also not available publicly. The 120 Mbps unlimited connection is available for Rs 1,500 a month, and the 1 Gbps unlimited connection is available for Rs 5,000 a month. There are no usage limits for both the plans.

You Broadband: You Broadband offers 100 Mbps with an FUP of 250 GB for Rs 1,572 per month. The service is available in some places in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Kakinada, Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Thane, Navsari, Pune, Surat, Vadodara, Vijaywada and Vishakapatnam. There are special plans for the Powai area in Mumbai. The plans have been updated with more options, with an increase in FUP limits, and a slight reduction in prices as well.

Act Fibrenet: Act Fibernet recently introduced a one Gbps plan for the city of Hyderabad. All across Hyderabad, Act is providing 1 Gbps plans for Rs 5,999 a month, with an FUP of 1 TB. Act is primarily active in south India. The service has got a relaxation in FUP limits, while the pricing of the plans have not changed. The service is available in only some areas of Bengaluru, Chennai, Coimbatore, Eluru, Guntur, Hyderabad, Nellore, Vijaywada and Vishakapatnam. Act is active in one North Indian city, Delhi. The 100 Mbps plan has been renamed to Act Incredible from Act Cyclone.

Nextra FiberBolt: Nextra offers 100 Mbps starting at Rs 2,999 per month with an FUP of 50 GB in some societies in Delhi, Faridabad, Ghaziabad, Noida, Gurgaon and Greater Noida. The FUP limit has been increased to 50 GB from 30 GB. The add on packs have become costlier though. Initially, add ons were available for additional 65 GB, 95 GB, 140 GB and 205 GB. This has been reduced significantly, with the highest tier add on pack offering only 65 GB of additional data.

Den Boomband: Den Boomband is available in very select pincodes in New Delhi, Gurgaon, Jodhpur and Kanpur. The 100 Mbps plans start from Rs 3,500 per month. 100 Mbps with 100GB of FUP is available for Rs 5,500. There have been no changes in the high speed offerings by Den Boomband, but the lower speed connections have seen an increase in prices.

Tata DoCoMo: Tata DoCoMo offers 100 Mbps plans in all the areas it operates in now, previously only available in Mumbai. 100 mpbs connections are available in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkand, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Goa, Mumbai, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. Previously, Tamil Nadu was the only region with multiple pricing tiers and a range of options for 100 Mbps plans, now there are multiple plans available in several regions. In Mumbai, it costs Rs 3,299 for a 100 Mbps connection with an FUP of 200 GB.

Connectzone: Connectzone offers FTTH lines in Punjab. The areas covered are Amritsar, Bathinda, Chandigarh, Ludhiana and Jalandhar. The 100 Mbps line with an FUP of 100GB is offered at the rate of Rs 4,999 per month. There are no price drops, but there are three new 100 Mbps plans, with increased FUP limits. The plans have been renamed to "Zippy" instead of "Express".

Asianet Xtreme: Asianet Broadband is available in some South Indian cities and was offering 100 Mbps plans with an FUP of 350GB for Rs 4,999 per month. The plans are no longer listed on the web site, and high speed connections are only available up to 20 Mbps. Here are some of the high speed plans that were previously available.

BSNL FiBro ULD: BSNL is also offering a 100 Mbps plans. The network is perhaps the widest ranging, with 97 cities covered across India. The plans are on the expensive side though, with the 100 Mbps connection offered with an FUP of 600GB for a monthly rental of Rs 16,999. There have been no changes in the broadband offerings by BSNL.

Spectranet Joy Unlimited: Spectranet offers 100 Mbps broadband in some neighborhoods in Gurgaon under its Joy Unlimited plan. The plan was initially available for only 1,799 per month, but is now available for Rs 1,849 after a slight price bump. It is however, still the cheapest 100 Mbps fibre broadband plan available in the country as of now. The Joy Unlimited plans are now called Joy Ultra plans.

Gigatel: Gigatel offers 100 Mbps plans in Delhi. Initially, The Lightning 100 plan was available for Rs 2,500 with a FUP limit of 40 GB. Now, a 100 Mbps connection is available for Rs 1,799, with an FUP limit of 100 GB. There were plans available for a number of usage limits up to 250 GB, but these have now been scrapped. There is an option for add on packs in case the FUP limit is reached, and users still want high speed access. The post FUP speed is 2 Mbps with unlimited downloads.

Did we miss anyone ? Let us know in the comments section below.