Technology Guru

Bharti Airtel on October 11 announced it was collaborating with Karbonn Mobiles to offer a 4G smartphone – the Karbonn A40 Indian -- at an effective price of Rs 1,399. The collaboration is part of Sunil Mittal-led Bharti Airtel’s ‘Mera pehla 4G smartphone’ initiative, which aims at providing affordable 4G smartphone to people seeking to move from feature phones to smartphones and experience high-speed internet on the go. The Bharti Airtel announcement seems to again have pitten the telecom major against Reliance Jio, which recently launched its 4G feature phone, JioPhone, which is virtually free. Some prospective buyers might be confused which between JioPhone and the Airtel-Karbonn handset to go for. JioPhone is India’s first 4G-enabled feature phone, bundled with free call, SMS, subscription to Jio apps and free data. Effectively priced free of cost, the phone can be availed of by depositing a security of Rs 1,500 refundable after 36 months subjecte...

Looking to take on Reliance Jio in the handset space, the country’s top telecom operator, Bharti Airtel, has partnered Karbonn Mobiles to offer a 4G smartphone at an “effective price” of Rs 1,399.  In a dig at Jio’s Rs 1,500 4G-enabled feature phone, the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led company said its smartphone would be made available for the price of a feature phone. Airtel said this was the first of several partnerships it plans with handset manufacturers to bring affordable bundled 4G smartphone options to its customers. In July, Jio had announced a 4G feature phone for a security deposit of Rs 1,500, returnable at the end of three years for a full refund, making the device virtually free for consumers.  “A customer needs to make a down-payment of Rs 2,899 for the 4G smartphone and make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169 each. The customer will get a cash refund of Rs 500 after 18 months and another Rs 1,000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1...