Fri Jul 18 04:30:00 UTC 2025: ## Airtel Offers Free Perplexity Pro Subscription, Betting Big on AI Boom

**New Delhi, India** – Bharti Airtel, India’s second-largest telecom operator, is partnering with AI-powered answer engine Perplexity to offer its 360 million customers a free one-year subscription to Perplexity Pro. This move marks Perplexity’s first collaboration with an Indian telecom and underscores Airtel’s ambition to become an “AI-first” brand, strategically positioning itself for the expected surge in AI-driven data traffic.

The partnership offers Airtel prepaid, postpaid, and broadband users access to Perplexity’s premium AI capabilities. Experts see this as a win-win: Perplexity gains significant market exposure and valuable user data in India, while Airtel enhances customer loyalty by providing added value and exploring potential revenue streams.

“Operators don’t want to miss the AI train,” stated Neil Shah, Research Vice President at Counterpoint Research. He highlighted the strategic benefit of associating with AI and the necessity for telcos to optimize networks for the upcoming wave of AI-driven data traffic.

Much like video streaming, generative AI is anticipated to place new demands on network bandwidth and latency. By partnering with Perplexity, Airtel gains crucial insights into AI usage patterns, allowing for informed network optimization and the potential to monetize Perplexity’s premium services. This could potentially create a double-sided revenue model for Airtel, according to Shah.

Shiv Putcha, founder of Mandala Insights, emphasized the strategic nature of the partnership. He noted that Airtel, lacking its own foundational AI infrastructure, is leveraging Perplexity to ride the generative AI wave and solidify its association with cutting-edge technology.

This initiative also helps Perplexity to expand in India, the world’s second-largest internet market. It follows similar deals with companies like SoftBank and T-Mobile.

Airtel’s move signals a broader industry trend of telecom operators embracing AI to enhance their brand image, prepare their networks, and explore new revenue opportunities.

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