Tata Indicom seems to be on the path to change the broadband scenario in India as it has launched photon+ in Delhi. Tata is treading carefully by launching the photon+ service in a phased manner as earlier it was launched in Chennai, Mumbai and some other cities.
The Photon+ service claims to be 20 time faster than the existing wireless data card connections, and approximately 10 times than the availability of average broadband connection speed in the country.The service is said to be offering a speed of 3.1 mbps and many other wireless internet operators have already started to match its speed.
The plan charges are a tad heavy for normal users as it involves one-time installation charge of Rs.3500. The plans however ranges between Rs.299 to Rs.1250 per month.
The company currently provides photon+ internet connection by two technologies-USB modem and Router. The Router is capable of enabling simultaneous Internet use by multiple computers unlike the restriction imposed by other ISP to lock down the internet access on the basis of MAC address.
The recent increase in Wimax License prices may worsen broadband scenario in India. The entry barrier for wireless internet is not coming down as expected thus cheap broadband services are still not cheap.
Many telecom players are also betting on wireless internet with premium offerings looking at the dominance of laptop sales in hardware market. This could very well be true as Indians are still averse to taking multiple Internet connections and want to fulfill their Internet needs for their desktop and laptop with a single offering. This will propel growth for products like Photon+.
