Airtel - can they take on Jio?
Airtel - can they take on Jio?
Apps, digital box, stick, fiber & major OTT aggregation
Hey Streamers 👋,
Welcome to the 20th edition of “Streaming in India”, your weekly news digest about streaming players, OTT trends and more in one of the fastest growing video markets. If you are not already a subscriber, please sign up and join 2,300+ others who receive it directly in their inbox every Wednesday.
“Online video streaming has come a long way since its inception, and so has streaming habits of consumers. What has remained a constant is our preference to view content on the biggest screen in our homes – the television. Fire TV is a convenient way to get your favorite shows, movies, sports, and more on your TV,” said Parag Gupta, Director and Country Manager, Amazon Devices India. Interesting that Amazon India commissioned the study conducted by NielsenIQ to analyze viewing behaviours of Indians. More details coming up on the next newsletter.
Today’s program:
Airtel, Who?
Airtel Xstream
Airtel Xstream Play - The App
Airtel Xstream - The Box
Airtel Xstream - The Stick
And….Action!
Airtel, Who?
Bharti Airtel Limited, commonly known as Airtel, is an Indian multinational (unlike Jio which is currently present only in India) services company based in India’s capital New Delhi. It operates in 18 countries across South Asia and Africa.
Currently, Airtel provides 5G, 4G and LTE services throughout India. Currently offered services include fixed-line broadband, and voice services depending upon the country of operation.
It is the second largest mobile network operator in India with 378 million subscribers and the second largest mobile network operator in the world.
Airtel is credited with pioneering the of outsourcing all of its business operations except marketing, sales and finance and building the 'minutes factory' model of low cost and high volumes.
Airtel's equipment is provided and maintained by Ericsson, Huawei, and Nokia whereas IT support is provided by Amdocs. The transmission towers are maintained by subsidiaries and joint venture companies of Bharti including Bharti Infratel (merged with Indus Towers) and Indus Towers in India.
Ericsson agreed for the first time to be paid by the minute for installation and maintenance of their equipment rather than being paid upfront, which allowed Airtel to provide low call rates of ₹1 (1.3¢ US)/minute.
Airtel Xstream
Airtel Xstream is an all in one entertainment app available to Airtel pre-paid or post paid customers on their mobile devices of choice plus it comes in other form factors including an Airtel Xstream box, stick and fiber.
Airtel Xstream Play - The App
Airtel XStream Play has a premium pack with a monthly subscription plan of
Rs. 149 ($1.81) OR an annual one of Rs. 1,499 ($18.3) for content access on 2 concurrent screens.
The content partners available on the app include ErosNow, Fancode, aha, Alt Balaji, Playflix, Stage, Kanccha Lannka, SonyLIV, Hoichoi, ShemarooME, LionsgatePlay, Ultra, EpicON, ManoramaMAX, Divo, Dollywood, Nammaflix, Klikk, Docubay, HungamaPlay, ShortsTV, SocialSwag, Raj Digital TV and Chaupal (24 OTT apps in total)
Fantastic value giving access to 24 OTT apps with a single price of $18.3 per year, however the downside being that unlike some of the other OTT aggregators such as Jio, OTTPlay, Watcho etc, there is only plan to choose from and the user does not have the option of picking from different packages, basis language for example.
The app also comes with 350+ live channels with an extensive electronic program guide - another FAST giant in the making. In fact all the telcos in India have a unique opportunity on LIVE & FAST to expand reach and revenue for not only content partners, but also for themselves.
Airtel Xstream - The Box
The Airtel Xstream TV is a new age DTH connection that enhances any television into a smart TV. It enables you to watch online content via various OTT apps such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, etc. - on your big TV screen. The built-in Chromecast also enables voice search with Google Assistant.
Affordable for most at Rs. 1,500 ($18.3) plus included in this price is the Airtel Xstream TV set top box and the outdoor unit (dish antenna, wire) installation fees, the remote and delivery fees. They also give you subscription to linear TV channels in the same cost – the validity of which is as per the offer available for you. With every Airtel Xstream TV connection, you also get free 3 months subscription to the content on the Airtel Xstream Play app – which is pre-integrated with the Airtel Xstream TV connections and free 3 months subscription to Amazon Prime Video.
Airtel Xstream - The Stick
Another form factor for those customers preferring a smart plug and play is the Airtel Xstream stick which pairs with the Airtel Xstream app on your phone to offer all the same entertainment options on the app plus Netflix, Prime Video, Hotstar etc which require additional subscriptions.
The stick comes along with a voice enabled remote and the stick + remote can be purchased exclusively on Flipkart in India (and not Amazon India) for Rs. 3,999 ($48.77).
In an effort to take on Jio head on, Airtel has launched options to pick a triple play subscription of Mobile, DTH (Android set top box / dish) and/ or mobile plans including Airtel XStream (with content from 24 OTT apps_)+ Hotstar + Amazon Prime Video with plans starting from Rs. 1099 / month ($13.4).
Unlike Jio, Airtel lacks a content studio OR JioCinema equivalent. In addition, when the Jio merger with Disney Star is completed, most likely Jio will pull Hotstar from the Airtel offerings cornering live sports distribution for it’s own network. If I was a betting man, all $$ would go to an Airtel move to acquire a content studio OR relevant sports rights to better compete against Jio - Convenience, Aggregation, & Content (there is not that much difference in price) will decide the end result in this great battle for eyeballs. Time will tell if this holds true as so far Airtel has stayed away from any content production / studios investment.
That’s all for today folks. If you enjoyed this breakdown, please consider sharing it with your friends and colleagues.
One of my favourite content creators TVF (The Viral Fever) are back with Season 3 of Humorously Yours, this time on Zee5.
This season delves deeper into the tumultuous yet amusing life of stand-up comedian Vipul Goyal. The season takes a departure from the industry-centric focus of the previous instalment and instead, immerses itself in the personal and professional struggles of Vipul as he attempts to keep the laughter rolling in a career filled with surprises.
Director Anant Singh 'Bhaatu' leads a competent team that crafts an engaging show with a blend of humour, lightness, and a touch of reality. Worth a watch!
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