Bharti Airtel - NEWS POLITE

Airtel Launches In-Flight Roaming Plans for Prepaid and Postpaid Users; Price, Validity

Airtel has announced new plans for its prepaid and postpaid users to let them stay connected when travelling on a flight. The bundle will offer high-speed data, limited minutes of free calling, and a limited number of free SMS services, the telecom service provider stated. For those, who do not want to recharge separately, the service is also bundled with specific international roaming plans. Notably, Reliance Jio also offers similar packs for people travelling internationally on long flights.

The in-flight roaming plans from Airtel start at the price of Rs. 195 for both prepaid and postpaid customers. All the offerings have a validity of 24 hours. Both prepaid and postpaid users will get 250MB of data, 100 minutes of outgoing calls, and 100 outgoing SMS with the Rs. 195 plan. An upgrade to this is available at Rs. 295 which offers 500MB of data alongside 100 minutes of free calling and 100 outgoing SMS. The most expensive plan is priced at Rs. 595 which provides 1GB of data and the same calling and SMS benefits. There is no difference in the price or benefits between the prepaid and postpaid plans.

In case users do not want to purchase a separate recharge pack, Airtel is also bundling the same benefits to its international roaming plans. Those who purchase Rs. 2,997 and above prepaid plans will automatically get 250MB of data, 100 minutes of free outgoing calls, and 100 SMS. Similarly, postpaid users who are subscribed to international roaming bundles of Rs. 3,999 and above will get the same benefits as prepaid customers.

Announcing the offerings, Airtel revealed that it has tied up with Aeromobile, the UK-based in-flight telecom service provider, to enable connectivity to its users. The company claims that the service will be provided across 19 airlines flying in different international sectors. While the telecom service provider did not specify which airlines will be included, it is likely to be available in airlines serviced by Aeromobile.

Further, Airtel also has multiple channels to connect with the company’s support team while onboard a flight. Users can reach out on its dedicated WhatsApp number via calls or text messages. The queries and complaints are addressed by its contact centre round the clock. To monitor data usage, buy additional minutes, or receive real-time billing details, users can also log on to the Airtel Thanks app.

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Airtel, Reliance Jio Likely to Start Charging for 5G Ending Unlimited 5G Data Offers

5G services began rolling out in India in October 2022. Reliance Jio and Airtel, two of the country’s leading telecom operators, were the first to offer 5G services to their customers. They have over 125 million 5G subscribers between them. The companies have been offering 5G connectivity at existing 4G rates and including unlimited 5G data with select plans. However, experts now suggest that the firms may soon stop their unlimited 5G offering and will likely increase 5G plan charges over the existing 4G plans.

An Economic Times report citing analysts suggests that Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel will discontinue their unlimited 5G data plans for customers and charge at least 5-10 percent more for 5G services compared to 4G beginning in the second half of 2024 to stimulate monetisation and revenue growth.

Jio and Airtel have been providing 5G connectivity at 4G rates, along with unlimited data plans, to entice existing subscribers to upgrade to the next-generation wireless broadband service for almost a year now, the report notes, adding that analysts predict this will soon change as Jio and Airtel prepare to roll out 5G services countrywide and focus monetisation as adoption levels rise. Notably, the number of 5G users in India is said to exceed 200 million by the end of 2024.

The report adds that industry experts predict that the two telecom firms will increase mobile charges by at least 20 percent in the September quarter of 2024 to increase their RoCE (return on capital employed) while simultaneously tackling investments in 5G and greater customer acquisition costs.

While Airtel and Jio’s purported 5G plans are likely to be 5-10 percent more expensive than the 4G ones, the network providers could include 30-40 percent more data in these bundles to promote usage, and also improve their market share in the meantime since Vodafone Idea (Vi), another leading telecom operator, is yet to debut 5G services in the country, the report added.

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Airtel to Deploy Nokia’s OTN Switches in Pan-India Long-Distance Network Connecting Major Cities

Nokia has announced that it would deploy a next-generation optical transport network (OTN) that will provide telecom operator Airtel with additional capacity, and increased reliability, while cutting costs. Operators have been working to increase their network capacity as they continue to roll out 5G network services across the country. The agreement between the two firms will see Bharti Airtel replace its legacy transport switching infrastructure with Nokia’s hardware across its network that connects different cities in the country, according to the Finnish telecommunications provider.

In a press release issued on Tuesday, Nokia announced the details of its agreement with Airtel stating that the telecom provider would use Nokia 1830 PSS-x P-OTN switches to replace its older transport switching infrastructure. The new hardware from Nokia will be used across Airtel’s national long-distance network that the telecom provider uses across major Indian cities.

The company’s high-capacity OTN switches will help Bharti Airtel increase overall transport capacity and optimise bandwidth efficiency, according to Nokia. Telecom service providers can also benefit from using the L-band wavelengths of optic fibre networks, effectively utilising additional spectrum, the firm said in its press release.

Nokia also cites the increased demand faced by telecom and broadband service providers as a reason for these firms to provide denser 5G networks by supplementing their backhaul transport. Doing so will also allow them to provide connectivity for data centre interconnect (DCI), smart grids, and other emerging business services, according to the firm.

“Our technology will help Airtel to increase the capacity and features of Bharti’s optical transport network to meet growing bandwidth demand driven by the enterprise and hyperscaler segments. It will also provide the service level performance to meet the strict SLAs from Airtel customers,” Chandan Kumar, Head of Optical Network Business Centre for Nokia India said in a prepared statement.

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India Expected to See 31 Million Users Upgrading to 5G Phones by December: Survey

As many as 31 million smartphone users in India are expected to upgrade to 5G phones between now and December, a report by Ericsson said on Tuesday underlining the accelerated pace at which the world’s second largest telecom market is adopting the ultra high-speed services.

Ericsson estimates the current base of 5G handset users in India to be between 80 and 100 million.

5G services were launched in India in October last year by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and the past months have seen a rapid rollout of these services across the length and breadth of the country by operators like Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel.

Swedish telecom maker Ericsson’s Consumer Lab’s Global Survey released on Tuesday pointed out that 5G users in India stand out for their high quality daily engagement with apps, such as streaming high definition video, video calling services, mobile gaming and augmented reality.

Among the big takeaways were the 5G satisfaction levels, and the willingness — by a section of those polled — to shell out a premium for innovative services and differentiated 5G connectivity.

On an average, Indian 5G users spend two more hours per week using these services compared to users in other early adopter 5G markets such as the US, the UK, South Korea, China and others.

“We estimate about 31 million users will upgrade to 5G phones in the remainder months of 2023,” Jasmeet Singh Sethi, Head of Ericsson Consumer Labs said during a briefing.

Another key finding of the report was that India’s 5G satisfaction levels rivalled or surpassed 5G early adopter markets.

“A total of 15 percent of Indian consumers are interested in adding application bundles, including video on demand, gaming and music, to their 5G plans, even at a higher cost. They are prepared to pay a 14 percent premium for these services,” the Ericsson report said.

While demand for larger data buckets remains the most prominent expectation among consumers for 5G plans, notably 31 percent of 5G users tend to deplete their data allocations by the end of the month. A larger portion, 58 percent of 5G users find themselves with more than 30GB of unused data by the month’s end.

“This suggests a clear need for service providers to explore more innovative approaches in crafting their 5G monetisation strategy beyond just offering higher data allowances to better align with consumer preferences and usage patterns,” the report advocated.

As 5G coverage expands in India, there is a significant opportunity to unlock greater value.

“By offering segmented 5G propositions using QoS (quality of service) offerings, providers can tap into the 22 per cent of smartphone users who express interest and are willing to pay a 13 percent premium for such enhanced experiences,” it said.

Recently, Ookla said the launch of 5G services in India turbocharged mobile download speeds here, pushing the country’s ranking 72 notches higher to 47th spot in Speedtest Global Index, ahead of nations like Japan, the UK and Brazil.

India’s speed performance has zoomed 3.59 times since the introduction of 5G, Ookla said dubbing the country’s 5G advancement as “remarkable”.

In this global pecking order, India ranked not only ahead of its neighbours like Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, but also some G20 countries, such as Mexico (90th), Turkey (68th), the UK (62nd), Japan (58th), Brazil (50th ), and South Africa (48th place).

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Telecom Subscriber Base in India Grew Marginally to 1,173.89 Million at June End: TRAI

Telecom subscriber base in the country grew marginally to 1,173.89 million at the end of June on account of new customer additions led by Reliance Jio, sector regulator TRAI said on Thursday.

The subscriber base growth was driven by mobile telephony where Reliance Jio added over 2.27 million new customers and Bharti Airtel added 1.4 million customers.

“The number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 1,172.57 million at the end of May-23 to 1,173.89 million at the end of June-23, thereby showing a monthly growth rate of 0.11 percent,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said in its monthly subscriber report.

However, the overall growth was mitigated by the loss of subscribers by state-owned BSNL, MTNL and Vodafone Idea (VIL).

BSNL lost 1.87 million mobile subscribers, VIL lost 1.28 million subscribers and MTNL (1,52,912 subscribers).

The net addition in wireless subscribers of telecom operators in the month of June was 3,73,602.

“Total wireless subscribers increased from 1,143.21 million at the end of May-23, to 1,143.58 million at the end of June-23, thereby registering a monthly growth rate of 0.03 per cent,” Trai said.

After a marginal decline in May, wireline connections increased in June.

The growth in the wireline segment was led by APFPL which added 6,56,424 new connections. It was followed by Reliance Jio with the addition of 2,08,014 connections, Bharti Airtel (1,34,021), V-Con Mobile and Infra (13,100), Tata Teleservices (12,617) and Quadrant added 6,540 connections in June.

The total broadband subscribers increased to 861.47 million at the end of June 2023 from 856.81 million at the end of May with a monthly growth rate of 0.54 per cent, the report said.

“Top five service providers constituted 98.37 per cent market share of the total broadband subscribers at the end of June-23. These service providers were Reliance Jio Infocomm 447.75 million, Bharti Airtel 248.06 million, Vodafone Idea 124.90 million, BSNL 24.59 million and Atria Convergence 2.16 million,” the report said.