Airtel announces hike in fixed line broadband rates from April

Airtel's fixed-line broadband customers will have to shell out more for Internet services from April, as the service provider has hiked the charges by up to 40 percent in certain plans.

The operator has informed its customers that the increase in broadband rates would be effective from their next billing cycle in April.

Due to an increase in input cost, the rent will be revised from Rs. 250 to Rs. 349 with effect from 17 April 2014, the company said in a communication to a customer.

In another communication to a customer, the company mentioned that from April 23, the rental will be increased from Rs. 850 to Rs. 949.

The company in the plan also informed customers about increasing minimum speed of broadband to 512Kbps from 256Kbps.

When contacted, an Airtel spokesperson said, "Tariff rationalisation is a continuous process and a function of market dynamics. This price revision of our broadband plans is in line with the increasing input costs that have a direct impact on the final prices."

Airtel is the second largest provider of fixed line broadband service with 1.39 million customers, according to Trai data for December month.

The company in February also become the first operator in the country to have more than 200 million subscribers. Airtel said in a statement said that it "has crossed the 200 million mobile subscriber mark in India, further consolidating its leadership position in the world's second-largest mobile market."

The company is in its 20th year of telecom services. Airtel got its first permits for mobile telephony in November 1994 and started services in 1995. Airtel is the largest telecom operator in India, in terms of both customers and revenue. It is the fourth-largest mobile operator in the world by subscribers.