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In Airtel, Are those OTT subscriptions not free like with Jio Fiber?
You seem to call out that those are for only a limited time period?

Also can I have the free OTT Subscriptions without taking the Airtel Box or is that mandatory?

I created the table after checking out the information from the respective sites.

The Airtel Xstream DTH Box is bundled with one month of HD pack (for watching bundled TV channels from the internet) and offers a limited one year subscription to Amazon Prime Video and Zee 5.

The OTT subscriptions work on other devices, but you will need the Xstream DTH Box to get the subscription in the first place.

The T&C states the Xstream DTH Box requires an active DTH subscription to continue accessing and enjoying internet supported online content and services.

Fortunately, you can opt for a plan without the box and its bundled services.

So does it mean that if I don't take the Airtel Box & DTH, then all I get is the Broadband without the additional OTT Benefits as below:
Rs.999+GST for 3.3 TB Data @ 200 mbps

EDIT: Found this FAQ Link which clarifies a few things: Link

That's dated. Refer to Airtel Xstrem Fiber Plans Terms & Conditions here.

Key points extracted from the T&C:

Airtel Xstream 4k OTT STB will be made available to the customer at a refundable Security deposit of Rs. 1500.Along with the box, first month recharge will be provided by the customer. Post the first month usage, customer will have to regularly recharge the STB to keep the STB connection active. The Security deposit is refundable only if the customer completes minimum 10 recharges above a value of Rs. 360 else forfeited.

OTT benefit will be offered every month as per the eligible broadband plan, only if customer opts for DTH Xstream Box as well.

All OTT subscriptions will be provided to the customer through the Airtel Thanks APP. Zee5 subscription will be made available on Airtel Thanks app only with the purchase of Airtel Xstream 4k OTT STB.

Thanks for sharing this - I did not like all this fine print on the Airtel side - its not as good as Jio Fiber and seems to be a pain in terms of the OTT etc.
Airtel however are undercutting ACT Storm by about 18%. I guess I will speak to ACT Support/Retention Team and try to negotiate for whatever best they can give and proceed with renewal with ACT.

Do you have any information on Tata Sky Broadband in Bangalore? Do they deliver on the promised speeds?

I have heard that it takes a long time for Tata to recover if there is a failure. They are like the erstwhile BSNL that when things go south, you'll have no idea when it'll be up.

I recently got a Airtel setup in parallel to the ACT connection.
While the prices and the add on freebies are a consideration, assurance of a quick remedy to a lost connection is even higher on my priority list.
I had troubles with the airtel fiber cabling a week into it getting installed and it was replaced after a FULL week, and this after an escalation mail to get things moving.
ACT on the other hand used to have outages due to cable cuts due to tree falling during rains etc. But they always restored the connection within a day.
Now, I've have decided against switching my provider, the premium I end up paying atleast assures connectivity.

Tata Sky not available in the area where I stay - so that is ruled out as well. Need to check if Airtel is available otherwise all these will remain just paper calculations for me.

That is a good input - will keep that in mind.

ACT has increased the data limits for Bangalore as well - here are the new data caps as applicable from today I think: Link



While they have decorated their Offering with icons of OTT Apps, they are just offering a 1 month free trial of Zee5 and some discounts on few Apps and thats about it. No OTT App is fully bundled with ACT as free.

I personally find Airtel to be quite good. I am on their 200 mbps plan (Rs.1000 per month), and I get unlimited data along with free annual subscriptions of Amazon Prime and Hotstar VIP.

How is Airtel in BTM area of Bangalore? I’m seeing a plan for 499 a month that gives 40mbps speeds with a landline. Is it hassle free enough that I can suggest it to elderly relatives?

I’m interested in overall support/service and basically a hassle free experience, since it’s for elderly folks.

Airtel provides excellent service in BTM layout, most issues are resolved in 4 hours at the most.

In do not have much choice - checked all possible brands including Airtel, Tata Sky, Jio Fiber, Excitel and Hathway in my neighborhood - none of them are available. The only two choices I have as on date are ACT and BSNL Bharat Fiber - so with ACT as of now.

Would anyone know how ACT delivers it's internet from an architectural perspective? When I check my public IP (using what is my IP) I get a public IP address in the 49.x.x.x range. However, my router gets a WAN IP in the 10.x.x.x range

While trying to ping my public IP (49.x.x.x) from the internet (another ISP account), I am unable to ping it. It appears that the same public IP is being assigned to multiple subscribers from their centralized proxy server / gateway. The 10.x.x.x IP would anyway not be visible on the WAN.

The use case is that, I wish to access my LAN resources over the internet over a VPN. I have a VPN server set up on my router (OpenVPN) and have the OpenVPN client on my laptop. I would like to connect to the LAN from my laptop over this VPN when I am outside my LAN, over the internet.

@Mods: Please move this to a separate thread if it is OT here.

Yes, it is a NATed IP address. If you want to access your home network from outside then you will have to subscribe to a static IP address. Here in Hyderabad, the cost is 250 per month. I'm using the same for hosting a web/mail server.