Airtel is offering it’s fiber service under Xstream brand name. Airtel use to provide broadband service 2-3years by itself only. Which means everything till last mile was managed by Airtel itself. This was pure postpaid service and nothing prepaid was offered in this broadband service.
However few years back to increase it’s coverage(to compete with Jio fiber) it adopted franchise model in tier-2 and tier-3 towns where last mile i.e. wires till customers premise was managed by local franchise. They were given proper training for this and everything including ont modem + fiber cable is provided by Airtel only. Also LCO can’t charge any extra for installation other than charges regulated by Airtel itself. However for customer opting service from these areas where LCO manages last mile, prepaid model was adopted. So everything need to be paid in advance to opt for Airtel service here. Though the postpaid and prepaid plans are exactly same.
| Airtel Postpaid | Airtel Prepaid |
|---|---|
| Directly managed by Airtel | LCO franchise model managed by Airtel |
| All plans upto 1gbps including black plan | Broadband only plan upto 300mbps no 1gbps plan no black plan |
| Static ipv4 option can be availed for ₹199 per month | No static ipv4 only nat. based dynamic ipv4 |
So in your area if everything is managed by Airtel then it’s postpaid service that means no option of prepaid for you. Don’t mix advance rental plans with prepaid service. Here you ‘ll receive bills regularly with due date. To stop service you need to keep it in safe custody or get it disconnected.
However if LCO is involved in your area then Airtel broadband service is on prepaid model and again you don’t have option to switch to postpaid billing. Here if you stop recharging, the broadband service will stop and you won’t receive any bill with due date. You recharge again and service would start again.
So you don’t have option to chose prepaid or postpaid service in Airtel Xstream fiber broadband service. Unlike Jio which own the last mile everywhere and gives both prepaid and postpaid options to it’s customers all over India wherever it’s operate.