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Indian operator Bharti Airtel has introduced India’s first fixed wireless access (FWA) offering. The company’s 5G-based Airtel Xstream AirFiber service is now available to customers in Delhi and Mumbai. This new offering aims to provide internet connectivity in fiber-dark areas, addressing the last-mile connectivity challenge in both rural and urban India.

Airtel’s Xstream AirFiber is a plug-and-play device equipped with Wi-Fi 6 technology, offering wide indoor coverage and the ability to connect up to 64 devices simultaneously. By providing an alternative to laying fiber infrastructure, Airtel aims to bridge the gap in high-speed internet access for areas where it is not currently available.

Shashwat Sharma, head of Bharti Airtel’s Consumer Business division, acknowledged that while fiber-to-the-home is the optimal solution, the physical challenges of implementing fiber infrastructure in a country as vast as India restrict its availability. The AirFiber service aims to provide a comparable experience to users in these areas.

Airtel plans to launch the service in multiple cities and expand nationally in a phased manner. All Xstream AirFiber devices will be manufactured in India under the “Make in India” program.

Airtel also highlighted its 5G network, which is currently available in over 3,500 towns and villages across India. The operator aims to extend the coverage to 7,000 cities and nearly 100,000 villages by March 2024.

The company is utilizing equipment from Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung to provide its 5G services. Airtel had previously acquired 19,800 megahertz of spectrum across multiple bands in a government auction.

Additionally, Airtel is in talks with around 50 companies to develop enterprise use cases for 5G. The company anticipates that the business-to-business (B2B) segment will generate more revenue than the business-to-consumer (B2C) segment in the coming year.

Meanwhile, rival operator Reliance Jio Infocomm has coverage in 6,258 cities and towns across India with its 5G network. Jio has deployed over 60,000 5G sites across the 700 MHz and 3.5 GHz bands.

Vodafone Idea is currently in the final stages of negotiations with banks to secure funding for the launch of its 5G network infrastructure in the country.

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