In what comes as a shock to the already severely electrocuted group of broadband users in India, Aritel, Tata Indicom, and Reliance announced (Un)Fair Usage Policies in a span of a month. Airtel was the first one to announce a FUP and it goes something like this :
Why a Fair Usage Policy? A very small number of customers use an excessive amount of the network bandwidth, to the extent that it can impair the experience of others. The intent of Airtel's Fair Usage Policy is to provide the optimum internet experience to all customers. What happens in Fair Usage Policy? Under the policy we have defined fair usage levels for unlimited data transfer plans and needless to mention, the usage levels set are very generous such that most customers will not be affected by the Fair Usage Policy. The "limit" on their unlimited plans are as under: 128 kbps = 10 GB download limit per month 256 kbps = 15 GB download limit per month 384 kbps = 20 GB download limit per month 512 kbps = 25 GB download limit per month 1 Mbps = 150 GB download limit per month
Tata Indicom's FUP is worse. Customers who exceed their limits are either forced to upgrade to a better plan or risk suspension.
The evolving internet broadband scenario in India necessitates the management of limited high-speed bandwidth and network resources in the larger interests of Customers. In line with the practice followed by major international Internet Service Providers and in its continuous endeavor to provide best possible Broadband Internet experience to all its customers, TCISL adopts a Fair Usage Policy (TCISL FUP) with an intent to ensure that the excessive bandwidth usage by a small segment of customers does not impact service quality for a large set of customers. Tata Indicom Broadband has established a monthly data transfer threshold (Fair Usage Limit) for the various unlimited tariff plans as given below:
Plan Type
Plan Speed (Kbps)
Fair Usage Limit (MB/Month)
Unlimited
64
5,000
Unlimited
128
20,000
Unlimited
256
45,000
Unlimited
384
70,000
Unlimited
512
80,000
Unlimited
1024
90,000
Unlimited
2048
105,000
Unlimited
4096
125,000
Data transfer in excess of Fair Usage Limit as per the applicable tariff plan shall be treated as a violation of TCISL  FUP. Upon such violation of FUP, TCISL shall contact the Customer suggesting for reduction in usage or upgrade to a higher bandwidth plan. Despite the above, if the customer fails to upgrade to a high speed plan or continue to violate the TCISL FUP, TCISL reserves the right to suspend or terminate the customer’s account immediately without prejudice to other rights available to TCISL under these Terms and Conditions.
Reliance, introduced its FUP in a more subtle way with its recent 3.1Mbps Internet connection that is delivered by the CDMA technology. You can have a look at the plan here : http://offers.connectindia.in/reliance/tariff.jsp . The FUP is mentioned at the very  bottom - a cap of 10GB, beyond which the user is charged an exorbitant Rs2. per MB. While I browse at 6Mbps Unlimited with ATT in the US, India is still battling with limits on 256k/512k 'broadband' speeds. Internet Service Providers don't seem to want to upgrade infrastructure and provide better speeds and (un)limits. Like guys on Vinuthomas, broadband in India can be correctly termed as 'Fraudband'. Seems like BSNL is the only ISP that still delivers true Unlimited broadband even if its a ridiculous 256k. I have heard of several complaints against BSNL, but I'm yet to face any problem(s) with the service at my parents' house in Hyderabad. While TRAI does a lot of policing, and penalises telecom operators in the mobile and telephone industry, it seems to have completely ignored the broadband scenario. TRAI - where is the right of the customer to Fair Internet Service?

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