Airtel App Store For Fixed-Line Broadband Users
It was just earlier this year that Airtel launched Airtel App Central for mobile customers. This app store was a big success and on those lines Airtel is planning to launch an app store for fixed-line broadband users. Bharti Airtel currently has 3.1 million fixed-line telephone subscribers out of which 1.3 million have broadband connection. With this move, are Airtel trying to convert the remaining subscribers? Does fixed-line broadband have enough potential?
Airtel says
According to Airtel, three years ago the revenue from voice alone was 80% for fixed line broadband subscribers. However, the number has now changed to 50-50 between voice and data, and this number is rising increasingly in favor of the latter. Airtel believes that this transition is happening due to the increased speeds that fixed line broadband users can achieve today. From almost 95% subscribers getting a speed of less than 256 kbps a few years ago, today no subscriber gets a speed of below 512 kbps and this has given rise to the increase in date transfer in fixed-line broadband.
What about portability issues?
The one question that always pops up when talking about fixed-line broadband is portability issue which is definitely the biggest drawback in fixed-line. How will increased speed ensure the success of this app store for example? Well, maybe it is in the end a numbers game. It was recently reported that one in four houses in urban India now have a PC. So though mobility might be an issue, Airtel still has a huge market to play with and this might be the reason to bring about an app store for fixed-line broadband subscribers.
Will mobile be a hindrance for the growth of fixed-line broadband?
We are not just talking about mobile broadband here but also mobile devices that can access the internet. With smartphones increasing by the day in our country, the convenience of surfing the net from just about anywhere might render fixed-line pointless. However, we would like to again point to the numbers where though mobile will take over India, there most probably will still be more than enough PCs in our country for companies like Airtel to increase fixed-line broadband customer base.
What is your take on this?
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Source: Anish Sadanandan