India’s Airtel Closes Amazon Deal To Launch Mobile-Only Video Plan

Airtel, India's largest telecom service provider, has teamed up with Amazon to launch a mobile-only video entertainment platform.

Prime Video Mobile Edition is a single-user subscription service. India is the first country offering Amazon Prime to extend the mobile-only package, Airtel said in a press release on Wednesday (Jan. 13).

Jay Marine, vice president, Amazon Prime Video Worldwide, said that India has deep user engagement and high mobile broadband penetration, and that the country is among Amazon’s "fastest-growing territories.” By offering mobile-first video, Amazon aims to bring its entertainment library to a bigger segment of Indian users.

As part of the launch, Prime Video Mobile Edition will be offered as part of prepaid entertainment bundles to all Airtel customers, with a 30-day free trial available. Customers can also sign up for multi-user streaming access across devices, including smart televisions.

Headquartered in India, Airtel operates across 18 countries in South Asia and Africa. Its mobile network covers more than two billion people.

“Over the last four years, Prime Video has become the country’s most loved premium streaming service, with viewership coming from over 4,300 towns and cities,” said Gaurav Gandhi, director and country general manager, Amazon Prime Video India.

He added that he thinks the mobile-first video plan will drive further engagement by offering a variety of entertainment bundles and mobile data plans.

Shashwat Sharma, chief marketing officer, Airtel, said the collaboration with Amazon will “democratize quality digital entertainment in India by leveraging Airtel’s core strengths of quality customers, deep distribution and best-in-class network for video.”

Amazon announced in October that it invested $152 million into advancing Amazon Seller Services in India. In September, the eCommerce giant started extending insurance offerings and gold sales in the country to grow the number of Amazon Prime members there.