Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel is pulling out all stops to take on Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio GigaFiber (broadband) offerings, as per ET reports.
In September, Airtel may offer a customised android-based smart set top box to deliver converged digital entertainment and fast broadband services, which aimed at matching Jio GigaFiber upcoming offers.
Airtel may selectively offer a free HD or LED television along with the set top box (STB) on super-premium tariff packs to specifically counter Jio GigaFiber‘s similar ‘Welcome Offer’ to home broadband customers.
Similarly, Airtel’s android STB is likely to come bundled with a host of new-look, integrated tariff packs that will target mid to top-end post-paid mobile users, home broadband and direct-to-home (DTH) digital TV customers, treating them as unified home users of the company’s converged telecom services, two people aware of the matter told ET.
Probably, customers opting for Airtel’s upcoming suite of converged entertainment-cumbroadband services will access premium OTT (over-the-top) content, streaming applications, HD television channels, virtual reality apps to interactive gaming services, in addition to high-speed broadband with potential base speeds of 100 Mbps on select plans.
Pricing and bundling strategies would be “calibrated in line with competitive intensity,” after Jio GigaFiber services launch, a person aware of the matter said.
“Airtel has sizeable customer numbers across its post-paid mobile, home broadband and DTH platforms…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,” one of the persons cited told ET.
Reliance to launch Jio GigaFiber services commercially across India from September 5
At the 42nd Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries Limited on August 12, Chairman and Managing Director, Mukesh Ambani had said, Reliance Jio GigaFiber would launch home broadband services from September 5, with plans ranging between Rs 700 and Rs 10,000 a month.
Most noteworthy, experts have said Jio’s promise of a free high-definition TV and a set top box for people opting for its annual broadband plans as part of a ‘Welcome Offer’ could unleash another wave of disruption in the telecom and DTH markets.
BY ABHINAV RANJAN | DKODING MEDIA
