Airtel Expands Digital Benefits by Offering Free Apple Music Access to Prepaid Users

Bharti Airtel appears to be on a quest to enhance the digital lifestyle of its Indian subscribers. With an already strong presence in the prepaid, postpaid, and broadband markets, the telecom giant now plans to introduce Apple Music for its prepaid customers as well, thereby extending its portfolio of bundled offerings. This is an important extension of Airtel's strategic tie-up with Apple, whose current distribution was exclusively through postpaid and broadband customers.

Apple Music Now Live for Airtel Prepaid Users

There are reports that Airtel has introduced a free Apple Music subscription for some prepaid users behind the scenes, first seen within the Airtel Thanks app. According to initial user reports, the deal offers up to six months of free Apple Music subscription, which will auto-renew at ₹119 per month after that.

Surprisingly, the deal was even visible on non-unlimited 5G plans, which suggests that Airtel could be opening it up to everyone on various recharge levels instead of limiting it to high-end prepaid packs. Although Airtel has not yet issued an official notice, users can verify their Airtel Thanks app to see if the deal is applicable for their account.

This development comes just days after Airtel was in the news for providing its entire user base with free access to Perplexity AI Pro, a high-end artificial intelligence solution. Through this offering of Apple Music alongside AI-based services, Airtel is proving that its bundling of content is not limited to entertainment and extends to productivity and future-proof digital solutions.

Airtel's Expanding Content Bundling Strategy

In the past two years, Airtel has chased aggressively deals with international as well as Indian digital platforms to pack up market-leading services in its recharge offers. In February 2025, Airtel partnered with Apple for the first time to offer Apple TV+ and Apple Music subscriptions to broadband and postpaid users. Now, by offering the same benefits to prepaid users, Airtel is consolidating its grip on India's biggest telecom space.

Besides Apple services, Airtel has launched a few packs of combined data, voice call, and OTT subscription recharge. The company asserts that these packs include entertainment in more than 16 Indian languages, hence appealing to a wide customer base in the country.

For example:

• ₹279 Plan – Offers 1-month validity along with subscriptions to Netflix Basic, Zee5, Disney+ Hotstar, and Airtel Xstream Play Premium. Airtel highlights that the bundled OTT benefits are worth nearly ₹750, making this pack a high-value proposition. A variant of this plan also exists as a “content-only” recharge, providing the same OTT perks with 1GB of monthly data.

• ₹598 Plan – Designed for heavy users, this pack includes unlimited 5G data, unlimited calls, and multiple OTT subscriptions with a validity of 28 days.

• ₹1,729 Plan – At the premium end, this recharge comes with unlimited 5G data, unlimited voice calls, and bundled OTT access for 84 days.

With such diversified options, Airtel is creating a unique space where telecom services and digital entertainment converge.

Airtel + Perplexity AI = Beyond Entertainment

Airtel's most significant collaborations this year involved Perplexity AI, a cutting-edge AI platform and often the go-to substitute for ChatGPT. In July 2025, Airtel declared that all users would receive free access to Perplexity Pro, a subscription that normally costs almost ₹17,000 annually. This comes with top-of-the-line AI models, file uploads, image creation, among others, as premium features.

This alliance reflects Airtel's approach of competing not only in the entertainment arena but also presenting next-gen digital productivity solutions to consumers. With the merge of music, streaming, and AI, Airtel is presenting a holistic digital lifestyle ecosystem in its plans.

What This Means for Prepaid Users

For prepaid users, the extra six months of Apple Music for free is an attractive deal. Most prepaid users in India tend to use free or advertising-supported streaming services. Having the ability to try out a high-end service like Apple Music for six months for free might get many users to try it out and maybe stick with it after the free period.".

If extended broadly, this advantage would enable Airtel to deepen customer attachment and win new subscribers who are seeking more than data and call advantages in their recharge plans.

Airtel is surely changing the telecom experience in India by adding high-quality content and productivity applications to its plans. With Apple Music added to its increasing list of bundled services, Airtel prepaid customers stand to benefit not only connectivity-wise but also in digital experiences that enrich their day-to-day lives.

As Airtel keeps bridging entertainment, OTT streaming, and cutting-edge AI tools, the business is establishing a new standard of what a telecom player can deliver in India. For the time being, prepaid users should monitor the Airtel Thanks app to see if they qualify for the Apple Music offer.