Bharti Airtel announced a partnership with Adobe as it continues to grow its bundled digital products offerings. Under the partnership, Bharti Airtel will offer all its customers free access to Adobe Express Premium for one year, a subscription valued at around Rs 4,000. The offering covers Airtel’s mobile, Wi-Fi and DTH users and can be activated through the Airtel Thanks app without requiring a credit card.
The rollout, described by the companies as a global first, puts Adobe’s AI-powered design tools in the hands of Airtel’s 360 million customers. Adobe Express Premium is positioned as an easy-to-use creation platform aimed at consumers, students, creators and small businesses alike with access to a catalogue of professional templates.
AI editing tool added, supports four languages
Users also get AI-led features such as instant background removal, custom image generation, one-tap video editing, auto captions and instant resize, alongside premium. The app supports English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali, widening its presence across geographies and use cases.
“This partnership is about more than technology. It is about empowering millions of Indians with cutting-edge AI tools to create and innovate. With Adobe Express, world-class creative tools are no longer a luxury—they’re a reality for every Indian,” Siddharth Sharma, chief executive — connected homes and director — marketing, Bharti Airtel, said.
David Wadhwani, president, digital media at Adobe, said, “We are excited to partner with Airtel to bring Adobe Express Premium to millions of people across India for free, accelerating the growth of India’s vibrant creator economy and enabling people to easily produce standout content – whether boosting their careers, growing their businesses or promoting their passions.”
The Airtel–Adobe tie-up fits into a growing trend where telcos are bundling digital productivity and AI-led services to stay relevant in a crowded market. While entertainment partnerships once dominated bundling strategies, operators are now experimenting with tools that encourage creation, learning and continuous engagement, rather than passive consumption.
Earlier, Airtel announced a similar partnership with Perplexity, offering the generative AI platform’s paid services as part of a bundle. Competitor Reliance Jio announced a partnership with Google which targeted the 18–25-year-old cohort 5G user for bundling of Gemini 3.0.
Bundles digital tools boost telco stickiness
For telcos, this approach serves multiple objectives. Bundled digital products help differentiate otherwise similar data plans, deepen customer stickiness and drive sustained usage without directly resorting to price cuts. As connectivity becomes increasingly commoditised, partnerships that embed everyday digital tools into telecom plans are emerging to defend relevance and remain part of consumers’ daily digital lives.
The strategy is limited to Airtel and Jio right now, both with mature 5G deployments. Vodafone Idea is currently focusing on its 5G deployment, and building the customer base. In fact, the telco recently raised the price of its post-paid family plans, making them more expensive than Airtel for the same benefits. State-owned BSNL has increased the data allowance on its pre-paid packs, though it is building is 4G userbase for now.