India’s No 1 telecom player Bharti Airtel has partnered with Karbonn Mobiles to sell 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs 1,399, undercutting Reliance Jio’s 4G featurephone priced at Rs 1,500, through an initiative called ‘Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone’.
The phone - Karbonn A40 Indian which has a retail price of Rs 3,499 - will be sold to consumers for an upfront payment of Rs 2,899, on which Airtel will give cash back of Rs 1,500 over three years on the condition that consumers recharge their phones with a minimum pack of Rs 169 every month. The recharge will offer unlimited voice calls and 500 MB data every day.
The partnership with Karbonn is the first among several others that Airtel plans to have with mobile handset manufacturers, to bring highly affordable bundled 4G smartphone options to the market and fulfill the digital aspirations of millions of Indians, the company said in a statement. The device will be available across all Karbonn Mobile retailers.
ET had first broken the story in its August 22 edition.
“As the market leader and pioneer of 4G services in India, Airtel’s aspiration is to digitally empower every Indian with high speed data access,” Raj Pudipeddi, Director - Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel said on Tuesday.
“We are delighted to partner with Karbonn to remove barriers to smartphone adoption and enable millions of Indians to leapfrog to a full touchscreen smartphone experience,” he added.
The ownership of the smartphone is completely with the customer and there is no need to return the device to Airtel or Karbonn at any point to claim the cash benefit, the company added, taking a direct dig at Reliance Jio’s JioPhone which consumers need to return at the end of three years to get Rs 1,500 back.
Under the ‘Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone’ initiative, Airtel will partner with multiple mobile handset manufacturers to create an ‘open ecosystem’ of affordable 4G smartphones and bring them to market for virtually the price of a feature phone.
All smartphones under this initiative will be available at leading mobile stores across the country and will be given after sales support by the device brands.
Bharti Airtel added that in case the customer does not wish to opt for the Rs 169 bundled plan, she/he has the flexibility of doing recharges of any denomination and validity as per individual requirements. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3000 must be done within the first 18 months, to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500, and another Rs 3000 over the next 18 months, to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1000.
The phone - Karbonn A40 Indian which has a retail price of Rs 3,499 - will be sold to consumers for an upfront payment of Rs 2,899, on which Airtel will give cash back of Rs 1,500 over three years on the condition that consumers recharge their phones with a minimum pack of Rs 169 every month. The recharge will offer unlimited voice calls and 500 MB data every day.
The partnership with Karbonn is the first among several others that Airtel plans to have with mobile handset manufacturers, to bring highly affordable bundled 4G smartphone options to the market and fulfill the digital aspirations of millions of Indians, the company said in a statement. The device will be available across all Karbonn Mobile retailers.
ET had first broken the story in its August 22 edition.
“As the market leader and pioneer of 4G services in India, Airtel’s aspiration is to digitally empower every Indian with high speed data access,” Raj Pudipeddi, Director - Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel said on Tuesday.
“We are delighted to partner with Karbonn to remove barriers to smartphone adoption and enable millions of Indians to leapfrog to a full touchscreen smartphone experience,” he added.
The ownership of the smartphone is completely with the customer and there is no need to return the device to Airtel or Karbonn at any point to claim the cash benefit, the company added, taking a direct dig at Reliance Jio’s JioPhone which consumers need to return at the end of three years to get Rs 1,500 back.
Under the ‘Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone’ initiative, Airtel will partner with multiple mobile handset manufacturers to create an ‘open ecosystem’ of affordable 4G smartphones and bring them to market for virtually the price of a feature phone.
All smartphones under this initiative will be available at leading mobile stores across the country and will be given after sales support by the device brands.
Bharti Airtel added that in case the customer does not wish to opt for the Rs 169 bundled plan, she/he has the flexibility of doing recharges of any denomination and validity as per individual requirements. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3000 must be done within the first 18 months, to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500, and another Rs 3000 over the next 18 months, to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1000.