MUMBAI: The entry of Reliance Jio in the telecom market disrupted mobile data pricing. Now, as the Mukesh Ambani-owned venture is set to enter the broadband service too, its competitor Bharti Airtel is also expected to bombard consumers with great offers. After telecom, the two companies are now prepping themselves for a war in the home broadband segment.

According to media reports, the broadband service from Jio will offer data speeds of 100 Mbps, with massive data limit, starting at Rs 1,000-1,500 a month. Moreover, it’s expected to offer a combination of fast connectivity and unlimited video and voice calls through the Voice Over Internet Protocol (Vo-IP).

To lure more customers, Jio may offer the initial service free of cost. Jio has already rolled out pilot services in few cities. Economic Times reported a person familiar with the development as stating that Jio might reveal the timing of commercial launch on 5 July, the day of Reliance Industry Ltd's general meeting.

Airtel is also gearing up efforts to revamp its existing wired broadband connection. The telco has set aside Rs 24,000 crore for the financial year 2019. From current 89 cities it wants to expand its service to 100 key cities targeting big data consumption zones.

“We are closely watching the wired home broadband space and will combine innovation with aggressive investments and do whatever it takes to stay competitive on services and tariffs and grow our home customer base,” a senior Bharti Airtel executive said as quoted by ET.

The entry of Jio may again disrupt home broadband pricing forcing its rivals, especially Airtel, to decrease rates, repeating the 2016 Jio 4G phenomenon.

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