Spectra, formerly known as Spectranet, said it has become India’s largest 1Gbps broadband network after carrying out a free network upgrade for all its customers in Bangalore.
“Spectra’s Bengaluru customers have been upgraded to the 1 Gbps speed at no extra cost and with this, it is now the largest 1 Gbps broadband speed network provider in the country,” the company said.
Customers have to pay Rs 899 per month plus taxes to get a monthly bandwidth of 400 GB at 1 Gbps speed.
For an extra Rs 350, they can remove the data cap and opt for the Rs 1,249 unlimited 1 Gbps pack.
The company said Bangalore is the second city, after Delhi, where it has upgraded its fiber broadband speeds from 100 Mbps to 1 Gbps (1000 Mbps).
The company has announced a plan to invest ₹100 crore, starting in September last year, to cover 4 lakh households across the country.
“The launch in Bengaluru is a critical step within that project,” it said.
“Bandwidth like 1 Gbps enables you to use multiple devices simultaneously without sacrificing speed or compromising on experience on any of them and is at par with global broadband standards,” the company said.
It said consumers will get uncapped download and upload data volume and ‘symmetric’ speed.
In other words, you get 1 Gbps both for upload and download. However, Spectra’s services are not available across the city, but are restricted to the areas where the company has expanded its network to.
“Our guiding philosophy is to make life better for individuals and businesses,” said Udit Mehrotra, CEO & Managing Director, Spectra.
“This means enabling them with the opportunities that come with unlimited internet and fueling our country’s future digital innovations.”
Besides the Rs 1,249 plan, Spectra is also offering bundled plans that provide subscriptions to apps like ALTBalaji and Hungama.
For longer-term tenures, the company also provides free Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV stick.
It also provides its own dual-band routers on all plans. However, users have to deposit Rs 2,000 as a security deposit when taking the connection.
The company also charges Rs 1,000 as installation fee, which is waived off if the subscriber is willing to pay for the first three months in advance.
The company said it is also targeting business in addition to home customers.
For the business segment, packages start from ₹1,999 per month for a basic 1 Gbps broadband and goes upto ₹14,000 per month for a dedicated leased line.
The leased line offers 50 Mbps priority speed for first 500 GB and 5 Mpbs after that and supports multiple IPs.
RELIANCE JIO
Players in the broadband market have accelerated their investment schedule in recent months, keen to avoid the fate of smaller wireless operators who were forced to shut shop with the entry of Reliance Jio.
Reliance Jio, which carries an estimated 70% of India’s wireless Internet traffic, announced its plans to launch fiber broadband services in 2016. The company has said that it will launch its services in 100 cities of the country.
It is yet to announce its tariff plans or a definite starting date.