Apple Partners with Airtel in India

By Munsif Vengattil and Aditya Kalra

BENGALURU (Reuters) – Apple is collaborating with India’s Bharti Airtel to provide free access to its music and video streaming services to Airtel’s premium customers, allowing Apple to reach thousands in the world’s most populous nation.

While Apple TV+ mainly offers English-language content, it remains a minor player in India’s $28 billion media and entertainment market, competing with Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+ Hotstar, and Mukesh Ambani’s JioCinema.

This partnership comes amid increasing competition in India and potential regulatory scrutiny surrounding a significant $8.5 billion merger between Reliance and Walt Disney, both of which own streaming services.

“Apple TV+ will be included with premium Airtel WiFi and Postpaid plans,” Airtel announced on Tuesday. No financial details or pricing information for the partnership were shared.

Existing premium users of Airtel’s Wynk music app will have access to Apple Music, as Wynk will be phased out, with its employees integrated into the company.

Sources indicate that this deal allows Apple to expand its consumer base through Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator with 281 million subscribers. Reliance Jio boasts 489 million users.

Apple TV+ is recognized for original series like Ted Lasso, The Morning Show, and Slow Horses, distinguishing itself by focusing on in-house content, unlike many rivals who offer older content from other studios.

Airtel is expected to announce new pricing plans soon, which will include free access to Apple TV+. Currently, Apple TV+ charges $9.99 per month in the U.S. and 99 Indian rupees ($1.18) in India, compared to JioCinema’s free cricket content and Netflix’s starting fee of 149 rupees.

Cricket is considered a significant draw for streaming in India, with Disney having lost millions of users last year after losing streaming rights to the Indian Premier League.

According to research from Counterpoint, Apple has 6% of India’s 690 million smartphone users, while the rest predominantly utilize Samsung and Xiaomi devices powered by Google’s Android OS.

Apple Music costs 99 Indian rupees per month and features a library of 100 million songs.