Airtel has revamped its Xstream Fibre broadband section page where it has revealed that it will likely be expanding to 25 other cities in the upcoming months. Airtel had launched its Airtel Xstream Fibre broadband identity in October 2019 for its home broadband services. The company said that its home broadband plans will be placed under this new identity and that it reflects the strength of its network which is capable of handling speeds of up to 1 Gbps. While Airtel Xstream Fibre was initially limited to selected cities across India, the company has now revealed its intention to expand its services to 25 more cities.
Ajmer, Shimla, Jodhpur Among New Cities
The cities with the “Launching Soon” tag on the Airtel Xstream Fibre website include Ajmer, Aligarh, Bhilwara, Bikaner, Bundi, Dharamshala, Ghazipur, Gorakhpur, Hosur, Jagadhari, Jhansi, Jodhpur, Kakinada, Kolhapur, Kota, Mathura and Mirzapur.
The other cities that are also listed include Muzzafarnagar, Rohtak, Shahjahanpur, Shimla, Thanjavur, Tirupati, Udaipur, and Yamunanagar.
It has to be noted that Airtel Xstream Fibre connectivity could be launching in a phased manner in the listed places as cities like Ajmer and Ghazipur doesn’t have a launch date. However, when users navigate to cities like Hosur, Airtel’s countdown timer states that the services would launch in 28 days, indicating that the launch could be on April 30 or May 1. Other cities like Aligarh could receive the broadband services around June 1 as Airtel states that it would be launching the services in 59 days.
Plans Begin at Rs 599 for New Cities
Airtel has also listed its new plans for these new cities with Airtel offering four plans beginning with the Basic that starts at Rs 599. The Airtel Xstream Fibre Basic plan provides users with 16 Mbps speeds and 100GB of data along with unlimited local and STD calls. Airtel is also bundling its Airtel Xstream content with all its plans in the new cities. However, the option to select unlimited data for Rs 299 which is available to other Airtel Xstream Fibre users in other existing cities is unavailable in the new cities.
Airtel also provides Entertainment, Premium and VIP plans for Rs 799, Rs 1,099 and Rs 1,599 respectively. The Entertainment plan offers up to 40 Mbps speed with unlimited internet and unlimited STD and local calls. Meanwhile, the Premium plan offers speeds up to 100 Mbps with users receiving similar benefits as to the Entertainment plan. Finally, the VIP plan offers speeds up to 300 Mbps and 600 GB of data along with unlimited local and STD calls.
Airtel is also bundling Amazon Prime and Zee5 along with its Airtel Xstream content to users of Airtel Premium and VIP plans.
Crucially, Airtel has said that it is experiencing delays due to the nationwide lockdown and that it would reach out to new users across India “as soon as permission is granted.” It remains to be seen whether the COVID-19 lockdown changes Airtel’s expansion plans or if the launch in these new cities happens as per its existing timeline.
