Vodafone Idea (Vi) can boost its financials with the help of competitive broadband offerings. Other telcos such as Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have been doing so for quite some time. Telcos can not only bring revenues through their broadband arms but also sell the stakes of their broadband company to investment firms for raising capital whenever required.
One thing that Vi desperately needs is capital. The loss-making telco hasn’t added net positive subscribers for several consecutive quarters now. Even during the month of January 2021, the telco lost 2.3 million subscribers.
For the unaware, Vi does have a broadband company called You Broadband. It is a subsidiary company of Vi that offers fiber services to users across several cities of India. Vi can leverage You Broadband by offering really competitive plans and services. Let’s take a look at how Vi’s broadband service differs from that of its competitors, Jio and Airtel.
Vi’s Broadband Plans Ages Behind Airtel Xstream Fiber and JioFiber’s Plans
First of all, You Broadband offers high-speed unlimited data broadband plans only in select circles such as Pune. In the rest of the circles/cities, the company only offers unlimited broadband plans with up to 60 Mbps speed in general.
Sure, there are limited data plans available with 100 Mbps, 150 Mbps, and 200 Mbps, but they are way too expensive than what Airtel and Jio offer and also come with very little data. In comparison, JioFiber and Airtel Xstream Fiber users don’t have to worry about data with any of their plans.
Further, with JioFiber and Airtel Xstream fiber, users don’t have to waste a lot of their time and energy in selecting a plan. They know what to expect from the offerings of the companies whenever they visit their website to purchase a plan. The companies offer standard plans that are applicable to every and any circle they are providing services to.
But that’s not the case with You Broadband. With You Broadband, users get different plans at different prices in different circles. The worst part is, there are no over-the-top (OTT) benefits included even with the highest speed plans offered by the company.
All of this clearly means one thing, users won’t be too excited to go for You Broadband's services when they have got alternatives such as JioFiber and Airtel Xstream Fiber. Some other companies, such as Excitel and Tata Sky Broadband, have also enhanced their offerings and started offering standard plans in every circle with OTT benefits (only Excitel, no Tata Sky Broadband).
Vi Needs to Capitalise With You Broadband
You Broadband should really introduce standard plans for every city it is providing services in. Further, Vi should focus on offering OTT benefits with the You Broadband plans and also bring in higher speed unlimited data plans to every circle at an affordable monthly cost.
You Broadband can help Vi in its enterprise business as well. Note that the company already offers enterprise-specific solutions. Since Vi is focusing a lot on the enterprise market nowadays, the telco can leverage its broadband business and offer advanced business tailored solutions to its enterprise clients.
If Vi can manage to grow its broadband business rapidly, it will be able to boost its revenues.
