Bharti Airtel To Introduce ‘Entertainment-Cum-Broadband’ Service To Compete With Reliance Jio Fiber

Bharti Airtel will be offering a set-top box (STB) to offer digital entertainment and fast broadband services to match Reliance Jio Fiber offerings, The Economic Times reports.

The Android STB may be bundled with various tariff packs that will target mid to top-end postpaid smartphone users, home broadband and Airtel Digital TV customers and will be considering them as unified home users of Airtel’s converged telecom services, sources with knowledge in the matter said.

“The objective is to use hardware resources and leverage existing customer relationships across the three lines of business to take an integrated view of the consumer to grow the company’s base of users opting for higher revenue-generating converged telecom services,” the source said.

To compete with the ‘Welcome Offer’ by Reliance Jio, Airtel could selectively bundle free HD/LED TV along with STB on super-premium tariff plans, the source said,

Customers who will opt for the converged entertainment-broadband services will be able to access premium over the top (OTT) content, streaming services, HD channels, virtual reality apps for interactive gaming with high-speed broadband at base speeds of 100 Mbps on select plans.

According to the source, bundling strategies and pricing of the plans will be “calibrated in line with competitive intensity,” after the launch of Reliance Jio Fiber on 5 September.