Airtel aggressive on broadband packages  ( February '23,2005, HBL)

IN a bid to take competition head-on, Airtel Broadband and Telephone Services on Tuesday announced new broadband tariff packages at multiple price points to enable customers to choose the most suitable packages as per their requirements.

The company has doubled offerings on its Rs 349 (Speed Plus) and Rs 550 (Flexi-Combo) packages up to 256 kbps from the earlier 128 kbps.

For business users, the plans begin with a monthly charges of Rs 2,495 for 512 kbps. This is four times more offering on the same plan.

"The company has also substantially lowered the one-time upfront charges including installation and registration costs and the security deposits," a company release said here.

By using the `always-on' DSL service, Airtel offers the benefit of scalability of bandwidth to the users and is currently available in bandwidth packages of 64 kbps, 128 kbps, 256 kbps, 384 kbps and 512 kbps.

"Targeted at residential, SMEs and large corporates, the service is scalable depending upon the usage," the release added.

According to Mr Rajiv Kohli, CEO - Airtel Broadband and Telephone Services, Northern Region, "We believe that these tariffs will catalyse steep growth in the broadband segment by enabling new customers from various segments to enter the category. These would also spur usage and fuel new acquisitions for Airtel."

It has more than one lakh DSL customers in its circles of operation.