Airtel Plans To Expand Broadband Services In India

Airtel is all set to expand its broadband services in the country. The company is planning to double its presence in the coming quarters. This development comes two days after the company posted a 22 percent rise in its profit.

This development was shared by the company's CEO Gopal Vittal on the earning call. He said that the company has already acquired one million broadband customers during the second quarter of the financial year. The CEO also pointed out that the company is looking for more partnerships with local cable operators.

Currently, the company is offering its broadband services in 145 cities, including a new location, where it has launched services recently. However, the company said that its partnership with local cable operators is already live in 48 cities in the country. Notably, the company has revised its XstreamFiber services and introduced Rs. 499 plans to provide 3300GB data. Besides, the company has announced a refundable scheme on set-top boxes.

"Traction was led by the increased demand from Work-from-Home, streaming, online education, and adjustment of entry pricing; and LCO partnerships in 29 new cities for the last mile connectivity," Axis Securities said in its report. It added, "Price reduction is not reflected in Q2 number and there will be some pressure on ARPU going forward."

Notably, the company has tied up with Amazon Prime to offer content benefits to its users. The new changes are already reflecting on the company's website and Thanks application. The Airtel Thanks app is available for Android and iOS platforms. After the addition of the new plan, the company is now offering five broadband packs in the country between 40 Mbps to 1 Gbps. However, it is expected that the company might bring new plans for new cities.