Bharti Airtel shares defy weak markets, rise over 2% after launch of new plans

Shares of telecom major Bharti Airtel were trading higher in an otherwise weak market on Wednesday after the company announced new postpaid plans offering additional benefits, including free international roaming.

Bharti Airtel shares rose 2.44% to hit an intraday high of Rs 1,854.70 apiece on the NSE. At last count, the stock was trading 1.78% higher at Rs 1,842.80, compared with its previous close of Rs 1,810.50. Meanwhile, the benchmark NSE Nifty50 was trading at 22,575.65, down 200.45 points, or 0.88%.

Despite Wednesday's gains, the stock has declined 12.28% so far this year, according to NSE data


ALSO READ: Jio IPO SWOT analysis: What the DRHP says about its growth story, moats and risks

Bharti Airtel announces new postpaid plans

Bharti Airtel said it will launch new postpaid plans from October 8, 2026, offering customers one international trip with free roaming every year, in addition to existing benefits. The complimentary international roaming pack includes 5GB of data, 60 minutes of calls, 25 outgoing SMS and free incoming SMS, all valid for five days. Customers can activate the five-day pack at a time of their choice.

The company said free international roaming is the latest addition to its Airtel Postpaid plans, which also offer Fast Lane technology, unlimited data and network-level protection against spam and fraudulent links.

Commenting on the launch, Amit Tripathi, Director – Market Operations, Bharti Airtel, said the company aims to deliver a "best-in-class experience" to postpaid customers in India. He highlighted Airtel's network experience, Fast Lane technology on 5G, spam and fraud protection, and access to entertainment and other services.

Airtel Business launches IQ Gateway

Earlier, on October 5, the telecom operator announced that Airtel Business had launched Airtel IQ Gateway, which it described as India's first telco-grade network intelligence platform.

The platform brings different customer communication channels onto a single control plane. Airtel said the platform was launched nationwide following successful trial deployments across select banks, financial institutions and other industry collaborations.

According to the company, IQ Gateway extends its network-level fraud prevention capabilities to enterprises, allowing them to build customer trust through secure communications.

Sharat Sinha, CEO – Airtel Business, said secure-by-design customer engagement had become essential for enterprises looking to scale in a digital economy. He said IQ Gateway would extend Airtel's network-grade fraud prevention capabilities to enterprises and help banks, government departments and logistics firms reduce cybercrime losses while strengthening customer interactions.

Disclosure: This article has been written by Kumar Gaurav, who is not a SEBI-registered Research Analyst or an Investment Adviser. Gaurav and their ‘relative(s)’ (as defined under Section 2(77) of the Companies Act, 2013) do not hold any financial interest in the companies mentioned in this article as of the date of publication. The views/recommendations mentioned in this article, wherever applicable, are those of the respective SEBI-registered Research Analyst/brokerage and have been reproduced/reported with due attribution. They should not be construed as the views or recommendations of The Economic Times Digital or the journalist. Readers are advised to consider the original research report and make their investment decisions based on their own assessment. Brokerage disclaimers here