Tata Sky Broadband Plans Are No Longer Unlimited, Even as Rivals Offer More to Users

At a time when home broadband lines are being used more than ever by people working from home, and most internet service providers (ISPs) are supporting them with more data, higher speeds and the promise of faster service, Tata Sky Broadband has decided to go the other way. The company has decided to add a fair usage policy (FUP) which in a way limits the unlimited plans. The FUP is now 1500GB of data usage per month, after which the connectivity speed will reduce to 2Mbps. We really cannot call these plans unlimited, can we?

Here is where we are at with Tata Sky Broadband’s updated unlimited plans now. Let us take the example of plans offered in Mumbai, to illustrate. There are three plans classified as unlimited. The first is priced at Rs 900 and offers speeds up to 25Mbps. Then there is the Rs 1,000 plan which offers 50Mbps and the Rs 1100 plan offers 100Mbps speed. Till now, these were truly unlimited plans, but now, the moment you use 1500GB data in a month, the connection speed reduces to 2Mbps till the end of that month’s billing cycle.

This rather perplexing move comes at a time when rival ISPs are doing their best to make life simpler for their users. Reliance Jio, earlier this month, had confirmed that it was increasing the network capacity of its broadband network and is offering the double data benefit to all users. Then there are the likes of Excitel broadband, who are offering extensive offers on bill plans for users, while ACT broadband has offered higher speed upgrades for free to its users during this work from home phase as the country remains in lockdown in an attempt to flatten the COVID-19 curve. Airtel has also repeatedly assured customers of uninterrupted service and is trying to install new connections for customers even in the lockdown—including 1Gbps connections.

Mind you, every ISP has business decisions to make and have the complete freedom to do so. But the very timing of this move, at a time when users are relying even more on their internet lines at home for work and entertainment, is a bit perplexing.