Airtel To Expand Broadband Services, Plans To Add 1,000 New Cities: Report

Airtel is all set to give a tough time to other broadband players, especially Reliance Jio, as it is reportedly planning to expand its broadband services. The company is in talks with the local cable operator to offer more content services to its customers.

The company is planning to add 1,000 cities in the next 12 to 18 months. This development comes after Reliance Jio announced that it is providing broadband services in 2,000 cities in the country. Besides, the Airtel is planning to attract 40 million households towards its platform, reports Business Standard.

"Currently, broadband at home has an ARPU (average revenue per user) of Rs. 700. Assuming that each household has three mobile connections of Airtel and also takes our DTH connection, Airtel would be able to garner an ARPU of Rs 1,700-1,800 from each home," industry sources were quoted by the newspaper.

However, the company is offering its services in only 120 cities and serving 2.6 million customers in the country. This clearly means that Airtel is a bit slow in terms of expanding its internet services. However, the company announced its expansion plans earlier. In fact, it is a continuing process as recently the company has shared its plans to aad 50 more cities, such as Muzzafarnagar, Nanded, Parbhani, Raigad, Ahmednagar, Akola, Aligarh, Amravati, Ariyalur, Bahraich, Barabanki, Barwani, Bikaner, Chamrajnagar, Chamoli, Champawat, Chandauli, Chandrapur, Chikodi, Davanagere, Tirupati, Udaipur, Udhampur, Uttarkashi, Viluppuram, Dhule, Dindori, Hosur, Jalgaon, Jalna, Jhunjhunu, Kaushambi, Kodagu, Latur, Mahendragarh, Mahrajganj, Mewat, Mirzapur, and many more.

Coming to its plans, currently, Airtel is five internet plans in the country. These plans are known as Unlimited, Premium, Entertainment, Ultra, and VIP. These plans are priced at Rs. 499, Rs. 799, Rs. 999, Rs. 1,499, and Rs. 3,999.