Well, a 4G smartphone is not an extraordinary thing nowadays, the world is looking forward to 5G now. However, the top three telecom operators are planning to launch a 4G smartphone which might be as low as Rs 500 – and offer them with bundled voice and data plans for Rs 60-70 a month. The approach is completely different from Reliance Jio’s strategy of subsidizing 4G feature phones and is aimed at countering the latest Rs 49 monthly plan for JioPhone users. Well, it’s worth to note that such low price smartphones bundled with voice and data plans will hurt APRU (Average Revenue per user) in the near term, but the telecom operator thinks that it will retain their users and upgrade them to smartphones to increase data consumptions in a long run. An executive at one of the telcos said “We will gear towards low-cost smartphones via alliances. Smartphones are expected to become cheaper, so for an offering with them, it makes more sense than setting up our own phones” Vodafone India, Idea Cellular, and Bharti Airtel declined to comment anything on this story. We will have to wait for some more time to know how much truth is hidden in the story. So, what do you think about this? Share your views in the comment box below.
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