Bharti Airtel has accelerated its Xstream Fiber expansion plans across India as the operator has now added over 25 new cities with the “launching soon” tag. The operator earlier in the month had the “launching soon” tag in 23 cities across the country. With the latest additions, Airtel has highlighted that its Xstream Fiber service will soon be available in over 50 cities in the upcoming months. In early August, Airtel had launched its Xstream Fiber services in six cities while the company in July had launched its services across 10 cities in India.
Airtel Adds “Launching Soon” Tag in Over 25 Cities Across India
The company has now listed over 25 cities with the “launching soon” tag including Ahmednagar, Ariyalur, Barwani, Chamrajnagar, Chamoli, Champawat, Chikodi, Dindori, Jalna, Kaushambi, Kodagu, Mahendragarh, Maharajganj, Mewat, Mirzapur, Parbhani, Raigad and Ramnagara. Further, Airtel has also highlighted that Rudraprayag, Saran, Shrawasti, Sivaganga, Tehri Garhwal, Thiruvannamalai, Thoothukudi, Udhampur, Uttarkashi, and Viluppuram will also soon receive the Airtel Xstream Fiber services. It has to be noted that Airtel now offers its pan India plans even in the cities where it offers its Xstream Fiber service through Local Cable Operators (LCO). The operator had earlier offered advance rental packs with speeds in the range of 16 Mbps to 300 Mbps in the LCO cities. However, it has to be noted that the company charges Rs 2000 as activation fees along with Rs 1000 as wiring charges in LCO cities. The company highlights that the activation fees will be waived off on semi-annual and annual plans. Crucially, the Xstream Fiber users in the LCO cities will not be provided voice services. It is currently unclear whether the listed cities will all be covered by Airtel directly or whether the services will be offered through an LCO. The company in its first quarter earnings call had said that it is “accelerating” the LCO model “quite rapidly” and that it will “start expanding over the next six to 12 months.”
Airtel Set to Launch Xstream Fiber Services in All Major Cities
In early August, Airtel had listed several other cities with an “launching soon” tag including Akola, Aligarh, Amravati, Bahraich, Barabanki, Bikaner, Chandauli, Chandrapur, Davanagere, Dharamshala, Dhule, Hosur, Jalgaon, Jhunjhunu, Latur and Muzzafarnagar. The company also highlighted that the users in Nanded, Ramanathapuram, Ratnagiri, Satara, Solapur, Sonbhadra, Tirupati and Udaipur will also be offered Xstream Fiber services.
