What is FUP in Broadband? Is Fair Use Policy Still Valid in India?

The FUP in broadband is nothing new. It has been a long time, when BSNL Broadband was once famous in every town and village of India and is still prevalent in India, ensuring fair and equal internet access to all the users.

FUP in broadband means fair usage policy or fair use policy is a set of standards defined by internet service providers (ISPs like Airtel, Jio, Excitel, ACT Fibernet, BSNL, MTNL ) to ensure fair and equal internet access for all customers. This term also called data cap, which is applied when you choose a internet plan from the vendors.

A user on Quora explained its meaning, You may also face FUP when choosing a mobile data plan like unlimited 1GB/day or unlimited 2GB/day. So as long as data is available you will get high speed but once you consume 100% mobile data the speed reduces to 64Kbps or 128Kbps. This means that the speed restriction is now in place and you will get slower speed while browsing.

Some people may not aware of it, hence they face issues. So it is advised, More you know about the Fup, a better plan you can choose. As each ISP has different fup limit,  restriction and prices, based on most affordable plan; you can apply a broadband connection and experience a smooth and fast speed internet even in the peak hours.

FUP in Broadband and Some Examples

When you contact a customer care or an agent and express interest in a specific internet plan, such as 10 Mbps, 40 Mbps, or 100 Mbps, they often do not disclose the FUP (Fair Usage Policy) term. Therefore, it is your responsibility to verify and ensure FUP data limit & Post-FUP speed before obtaining a broadband connection.

• FUP Data Limit: The maximum data you can consume at high speeds before experiencing speed throttling.
• Post-FUP Speed: The reduced internet speed that kicks in after you exceed the FUP data limit.

I would like to give an example of FUP in broadband. This will help you understand what we’re talking about. As in India, Airtel and Jio have a big market share in providing high-speed fiber optic cable-based broadband connections, we will talk about their FUP data limits, which agents never disclose while selling plans.

Airtel FUP

• Airtel provides unlimited data plans in several circles across India. This means there is no FUP limit, and you can consume as much data as you want without any restriction. However, these plans may have a somewhat higher price than limited data plans.
• In some areas where unlimited data plans are not accessible, Airtel has plans with FUP restrictions ranging from 3,300GB (3.3TB) to unlimited data with speed limiting after reaching a certain threshold.
• Even after reaching the FUP limit, Airtel provides a higher post-FUP speed of 2 Mbps, allowing basic browsing and activities.
• You can remove FUP restriction by a top up. For this, you can visit Airtel website or call customer care provider. By making payment, the post-FUP speed limit will be removed and you can experience fast speed.

Jio FUP

• JioFiber provides limited data plans, with FUP limitations ranging from 3,300GB (3.3TB) to 4,000GB (4TB), depending on the plan selected.
• After reaching the FUP limit, JioFiber’s post-FUP speed significantly drops to 1 Mbps, making data-intensive tasks like streaming or video calls difficult.
• Jio provides data booster plans for purchasing additional data after surpassing the FUP limit, however the total data offered is still lower than Airtel’s unlimited plans with speed restriction.

Final Words

So, the FUP term in broadband (imposed by ISPs) is very simple. It means the data speed will be dropped once you consume 100% of high speed data. Here’s an example that gives a clear picture of FUP:

An example:

• You choose a plan of 40 Mbps from Airtel or 30 Mbps from Jio.
• It comes with a bundle data of around 3,300GB or 3TB and speed @40Mbps or @30Mbps.
• Upon consuming 100% high speed data, FUP will be applied.
• After FUP reached, post-FUP speed will be 40Mbps @2Mbps or  30Mbps @1Mbps.
• Till next month, you’ll get post-FUP speed which you increase with an add-on data pack.

Since FUP plays a big role, you should know which ISP is right for you. Depending on your need and data consumption, choose a better plan that you can use on multiple devices without any speed restrictions.