Airtel, based in New Delhi, in northern India, will give iPhone customers on its higher-tier postpaid plans free access to Apple’s iCloud+ storage service, along with Apple TV and Apple Arcade. The offer applies to postpaid plans priced at ₹999 and above, and adds fifty GB of iCloud storage on top of the 100 GB of Google One storage Airtel already gives all of its postpaid subscribers, according to The Hindu BusinessLine. Most low-end mobile uses prefer pre-paid plans
Amit Tripathi, Bharti Airtel’s director of market operations, said the addition builds on a strategy of adding value to the company’s family postpaid plans: “At Airtel, we are constantly looking at ways to make our customers’ lives simpler while creating more differentiated value through our propositions. With the addition of Apple’s iCloud+, Apple TV and Apple Arcade to our family postpaid plan offerings, we are taking this proposition a step further, giving customers even more value and making the Airtel experience more rewarding.”
The Economic Times reported that the move is meant to help Airtel retain premium customers as competition for high-value subscribers increases, and that the company expects the bundle to raise its average revenue per user (ARPU).
For Apple, the deal extends its reach into India’s telecom market without Apple having to sell the services directly: Airtel becomes the distribution channel for iCloud+, Apple TV and Apple Arcade to millions of its postpaid customers, at no separate charge to them.
