Telecom-software partnership in India
Boosts access to premium creative tools
Part of telecoms’ strategy to build long-term digital habits
Adobe Express Premium free for Airtel users India, Bharti Airtel has announced a groundbreaking partnership with Adobe to offer Adobe Express Premium free for one year to 360 million customers across its mobile, broadband (Wi-Fi) and DTH services. The offer, valued at around ₹4,000 annually, is available to all active Airtel subscribers and can be claimed through the Airtel Thanks App with no credit card required.
This initiative marks a first-of-its-kind telecom-software collaboration in India that aims to democratise access to professional creative tools and reinforce Airtel’s value-added services strategy. While the move brings premium design and AI-powered capabilities to students, creators and small businesses, analysts say such bundling deals also help telecom operators deepen customer engagement and retention.
Free Adobe Express Premium: What’s Included
Under the new offer, Airtel customers can activate a one-year subscription to Adobe Express Premium a suite of design, photo editing, video creation and social media content tools. Key features include:
- AI-powered creative tools for background removal, custom image generation and one-tap video editing
- Thousands of templates for digital graphics, posters, resumes and social posts
- Premium Adobe Stock assets and over 30,000 professional fonts
- 100GB cloud storage for projects and cross-device access
- Multi-language support including English, Hindi, Tamil and Bengali
Customers simply download or open the Airtel Thanks App, navigate to the Adobe Express offer and claim the free subscription. Once activated, the free access remains valid for 12 months from the activation date.
Why It Matters
The partnership is significant for India’s digital ecosystem, where demand for accessible and powerful content-creation tools is rising rapidly. Students, freelancers, local businesses and social media creators can now use premium design software without incurring additional costs, potentially lowering barriers to digital expression and entrepreneurship.
For Airtel, bundling a high-value service like Adobe Express Premium reinforces its strategy of offering value beyond connectivity, a practice already seen in past deals with other digital platforms. Analysts note that while such offers are marketed as perks, they also serve to build long-term user habits that make customers less likely to switch providers.
What Users Should Know
- Activation must be done via the Airtel Thanks App between January 29, 2026 and January 28, 2027.
- The subscription does not require credit card details for activation.
- The offer applies to prepaid, postpaid, Wi-Fi and DTH subscribers.
By making premium creative tools freely available at scale, Airtel and Adobe are tapping into India’s expanding creator economy, while also showcasing how telecom players are evolving into platforms that offer digital services beyond traditional voice and data plans.