After the launch of Reliance Jio in the Indian telecom industry, rival companies are taking many measures to survive and stay competent. Jio’s biggest rival Airtel has put every effort by changing their data plans significantly.
Recently, Jio has announced one of the cheapest smartphone with 4G technology for Rs. 1,500 which is also fully refundable after three years.
To compete with that Airtel has come up with its own 4G smartphone which would arrive in the first week of October.
Earlier this year, CEO of Airtel Gopal Vittal said, "I want to clarify the difference between bundling versus discounting and subsidising. We do not brand handsets on our own. We do not subsidise. We do not manage the inventories. We work with different device players to bundle’’.
As per latest reports, the smartphone could be priced around Rs. 2,000 without an obligation to return the phone.
Airtel’s smartphone will be on the verge of Jio’s smartphone which will be bundled with data and voice calling benefits.
A source spoke to ET about the launch of the smartphone and said, "Airtel is talking to some handset manufacturers to bring in a smartphone around Rs 2,500, which will have a bigger screen, better camera and better battery performance than what a feature phone could offer’’.
Talking about the availability of the phone, it is still not confirmed when will the actual delivery of the phone begin. On the other hand, Jio smartphone aims to deliver 6 million JioPhone in the first two weeks of October.
About the specs of Airtel’s smartphone, the screen-size is expected to be of 4-inch along with front and rear cameras. It is also expected to that the phone is going to have a decent battery life backed with 1GB of RAM.