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Bharti Airtel Set to Double Down on Broadband Services

Posted: 31 Oct 2020 01:41 AM PDT

This post first appeared on TelecomTalk Read more at: https://telecomtalk.info/bharti-airtel-double-down-broadband-services/307291/, Bharti Airtel Set to Double Down on Broadband Services

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Bharti Airtel, the second-largest wired broadband provider in India will be "doubling down" on its broadband services through multiple points including "rapid expansion" of its service areas in the upcoming quarters. The development was shared by Gopal Vittal, CEO of Bharti Airtel in the second-quarter earnings call on Wednesday with Vittal highlighting that the broadband services is "at a cusp in terms of growth." Vittal highlighted that the company added "one million home passes during the quarter" in the cities where the Airtel currently offers its services.

Airtel Witnesses "Rapid Increase" in Broadband Consumption

The CEO of Bharti Airtel also said that the company would accelerate its Local Cable Operator (LCO) partnership model. The second-largest wired broadband provider in India is currently offering its services across 145 cities in India including 28 cities where Airtel unveiled its services in its second quarter. In its quarterly report, Airtel highlighted that its LCO model is currently live in 48 cities across India.

"I believe that the broadband category is at a cusp in terms of growth. With Covid as the trigger point, we are seeing a rapid increase in work from home, in online education and in streaming services," Vittal said in the earnings call. "All of these need reliable high-speed broadband."

Vittal said that the company would be introducing the "full power" of its Airtel services along with its "partner services to deliver an integrated converged offer encompassing connectivity, entertainment and more."

The operator in early September revamped its Xstream Fiber plans with Airtel introducing an Xstream Bundle enabling users to opt for Airtel Xstream Set-Top Box (STB) for Rs 1500 refundable deposit.

"Finally, an adjustment in entry prices due to competitive reasons towards the end of the quarter," Vittal said in the earnings call. "As a result, we saw growing momentum across the quarter while adding close to 130,000 customers."

Analyst Expects Airtel to Face APRU Pressure in Days Ahead

Airtel on Tuesday highlighted in its earnings release that its Airtel Business and Homes segment witnessed 7.5% and 7.3% year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth respectively. In its quarterly report, the operator highlighted that its Homes services registered an average revenue per user (ARPU) of Rs 783 in its second quarter as compared to Rs 802 in the previous quarter.

Axis Securities in a report on Thursday said that the operator will witness further pressure on its ARPU in its Homes segment despite witnessing a "good traction" in the second quarter.

"Traction in Homes was led by (i) increased demand from Work-from-Home, streaming; online education; (ii) converged offering including Airtel Xtreme; (iii) adjustment of entry pricing; and (iv) LCO partnerships in 29 new cities for the last mile connectivity," Axis Securities said in its report. "Price reduction is not reflected in Q2 number and there will be some pressure on ARPU going forward."

Motilal Oswal in its report also released on Thursday said that the Airtel broadband services is "poised for growth" with the segment said to be "driven by the new LCO distribution model."

The operator in its first-quarter report for the period ended June 2020, highlighted that LCO model was live in 14 cities across India. The users in LCO cities were earlier offered advance rental packs with the plans carrying speeds in the range of 16 Mbps to 300 Mbps. However, in early August, Airtel introduced the pan India plans even in its LCO cities. Alwar, Bareilly, Dehradun, Jammu, Katra, Nashik, Prayagraj, Rajahmundry and Sikar are some of the cities with Xstream Fiber services under the LCO model.

Original article: Bharti Airtel Set to Double Down on Broadband Services

Why Is It High-Time for Telecom Operators to Focus on Fiberisation?

Posted: 30 Oct 2020 09:10 PM PDT

This post first appeared on TelecomTalk Read more at: https://telecomtalk.info/high-time-indian-telecom-operators-focus-fiberisation/307376/, Why Is It High-Time for Telecom Operators to Focus on Fiberisation?

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5G sans Fiberisation—Possible? Telecom operators have realised that Fiberisation is the pivot for riding the 5G or emerging technologies bandwagon. If from 2G to 4G was about rationalising capacity by telcos, 5G is more about fibre. Fiberisation will surely meet the present requirement of bandwidth and future technologies. However, India has about 25-30% level of Fiberisation versus 70% that is required for 5G technology rollout. According to industry experts, Fiberisation is a must to address the digital divide and to reach all parts of the country to empower the citizens. Since all the cell towers in the country at present are not connected through fibre due to its paucity, there's a big challenge. Growth of fibre is the foremost priority for the ongoing exponential increase in data demand and improved quality of services.

Although telecom operators have plans around Fiberisation, still rock-solid plans and roadmaps are required when it comes to Fiberisation. Reliance Jio is leading the way on Fiberisation and Airtel and VIL have also decided to almost double their fibre deployment for 4G/5G. However, Fiberisation is very expensive and telcos are already saddled with a staggering debt of around Rs 4.3 lakh crore.

Initiatives by Indian Telecom Operator

Reliance Jio already has plans to reach 50 million households- or about a fifth of India's population with fibre optic, but there's no timeline to that. Bharti Airtel has plans to have a combination of microwave, wireless backhaul and fibre over the next three years. VIL also plans to roll out fibre optic.

Fiberisation has been on the government's agenda for quite long with the program, BharatNet, erstwhile National Optic Fibre Network (NOFN), which aims to provide digital connectivity to every rural household. Although it has witnessed many hiccups, the government is still optimistic about the project. And therefore, in the budget on February 1, 2020, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had proposed to allocate Rs 6,000 crores in 2020-21 to 'BharatNet' programme to link one lakh gram panchayats by providing Fibre to the Home connections (FTTH).

Taking a holistic view here, Fiberisation is a national issue as it could and is playing a very important role in making Digital India a reality. As India leapfrogs to the next wave of communication revolution around digital, it should prepare for new models and Fiberisation can play a crucial role here. Collaboration between various stakeholders for rolling out Fiberisation is a prudent step.

Today, OFC (Optical Fibre Cable) connectivity is available in all state capitals, districts, HQs and up to the block level. Existing fibres of PSUs –BSNL, Railtel and Power Grid—are already in use. Now, just imagine the power of sharing of existing fibre assets among telcos, avoiding duplication of assets and stepping up fibre outreach.

However, if each player were to reach this level individually, Indian telecom operators may need investments of up to Rs 1 lakh crore. Network transformation to 5G requires deep Fiberisation in the access network with high fibre counts. Each 5G front haul will require one fibre pair with a latency of 1 millisecond. In such a scenario, collaboration is the only key for fructifying pan-India digital connectivity dreams. Quoting Mattie Stepanek here—"Unity is strength. . . when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”

Original article: Why Is It High-Time for Telecom Operators to Focus on Fiberisation?

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