India challenger operator Reliance Jio is set to advance a service expansion strategy with the launch of fibre to the home (FTTH) broadband by the end of March, The Economic Times reported.

The company, which shook the wireless industry when it launched discount 4G services in September 2016, is already testing its FTTH service across ten major cities with a view to initial commercial launch across 30 urban areas.

Jio is tipped to bundle in its TV service and expects to be able deliver data rates of 100Mb/s at launch. Indian trade title TelecomTalk reported the service was originally slated for commercial launch in late 2017 and has a potential market of 100 million households across the 30 locations.

Since its entry into the wireless sector the operator faced repeated criticism by rivals for perceived cut-throat pricing to drive its subscriber base. Its discount strategy looks set to continue as Jio is already advertising three months free JioFibre to customers who sign up ahead of full launch.

Expansion
The move comes as Jio continues to expand its scope beyond its core mobile service. Its additional services include mobile TV though JioTV, the JioChat messaging app, JioMoney mobile wallet and its low cost JioPhone handset.

Jio made its first quarterly profit during its fiscal Q3 2018 (covering the three months to end-December) and reported a subscriber base of 160 million.