iWorld
Airtel, Netflix enter strategic partnership
MUMBAI: Adding to the OTT-telecom deal list is the partnership between global Netflix and Airtel in India. Airtel subscribers of select postpaid and V-Fiber Home Broadband plans will be able to enjoy free streaming of Netflix for three months. After the free subscription period of three months, they will be able to pay for the platform using Airtel postpaid or home broadband bill.
“Partnerships are at the core of Airtel’s DNA and we are delighted to expand our strategic relationship with Netflix. Affordable high speed data services and growing smart devices have created a massive opportunity, perhaps one of the biggest in the world, for the uptake of content – both local and global. We look forward to working closely with Netflix to leverage this huge potential and continue delighting customers with some amazing offerings,” Bharti Airtel MD and CEO Gopal Vittal said.
Customers on eligible Airtel plans will be able to avail the opportunity through the Airtel TV app and the My Airtel app. Even customers not on plans eligible for this offer will be able to sign up or upgrade to claim this and pay for Netflix using their Airtel bill. It has also partnered to promote Netflix content through a dedicated row on the Airtel TV app.
“We are delighted to expand our partnership with Airtel and combine the latest technologies and the best of entertainment. Be it Sacred Games, Ghoul or Stranger Things, more and more fans are watching on mobile so we’re bringing together Netflix’s award-winning TV shows and movies with Airtel’s amazing mobile and broadband networks. Airtel customers will enjoy the simplicity of one monthly bill for their Netflix subscription and Airtel postpaid/home broadband bill,” Netflix business development global head Bill Holmes said.
Airtel, which is gradually losing ground to Jio is trying to get back in the race with several content deals. Recently, it struck an exclusive deal with ZEEL under which a select premium content from ZEE5 library will be available for Airtel consumers exclusively. The telco platform has an existing deal with Amazon Prime also. All these deals may bring more users to the network owing to the digital content portfolio. Meanwhile, Netflix is also trying to gain a stronger foothold in the Indian OTT market through new Indian originals and partnerships.
iWorld
Telcos push for unified rules as spam shifts to OTT platforms
Over 80 per cent fraud moves online, operators seek common framework.
MUMBAI: The spam may have left your phone network but it hasn’t left you alone. India’s telecom operators are once again dialling up the pressure for a unified regulatory framework, warning that fraud is rapidly migrating to internet-based platforms where oversight remains far looser. According to industry communication, a leading operator has written to multiple arms of the government including the Department of Telecommunications, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and the Ministry of Finance arguing that tighter controls on traditional telecom networks are inadvertently pushing bad actors towards over-the-top (OTT) communication platforms.
The concern is not new, but the framing has sharpened. What was once an industry grievance is now being positioned as a consumer protection issue. Operators say that tackling spam in silos no longer works, as fraudsters seamlessly shift across platforms, exploiting regulatory gaps. The result: a moving target that traditional safeguards struggle to contain.
Executives point to a clear shift in fraud patterns. OTT platforms are increasingly being used for phishing links, impersonation scams and bulk unsolicited messaging, with industry estimates suggesting that over 80 per cent of spam activity has now migrated online. In this environment, the lines between telecom networks, messaging apps and financial fraud are blurring fast.
At the heart of the industry’s demand is a call for a technology-neutral regulatory framework, one that applies consistently across telecom and internet-based communication services. Operators argue that the absence of uniform safeguards, such as sender verification systems, robust spam filters and clearly defined accountability mechanisms, has created enforcement blind spots that fraudsters are quick to exploit.
The proposal is straightforward but far-reaching. Telcos are pushing for baseline anti-fraud measures across all communication platforms, alongside faster response systems and deeper coordination between ministries. Given the interconnected nature of telecom networks, digital platforms and financial systems, they argue that fragmented oversight only weakens the overall defence.
The broader issue is regulatory arbitrage, the ability of bad actors to hop between platforms based on which is least regulated at any given time. Without harmonised rules, operators say, efforts to curb fraud risk becoming a game of whack-a-mole.
As digital communication continues to expand, the debate is shifting from who regulates what to how consistently it is regulated. For now, telecom operators are making their case clear: in a world where spam travels freely, regulation cannot afford to stay fragmented.
