Airtel partners with Karbonn Mobiles to offer 4G smartphone

NEW DELHI: Telecom operator Bharti Airtel said that it has partnered with Karbonn Mobiles to bring an affordable 4G smartphone to the market, effectively at the price of a feature phone.

This is the first of several partnerships 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.

Under the partnership, the Karbonn A40 Indian – now comes at an effective price of just Rs 1399 (compared to its current market price of appx. Rs 3499). The Google Certified – Karbonn A40 Indian has a full touch screen plus dual SIM slots, and offers complete access to all apps on Google Play Store, including YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp.

The 4G smartphone is bundled with a monthly pack of Rs 169 from Airtel, which offers generous data and calling benefits.

Raj Pudipeddi, Director – Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel said, “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. 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. We plan to partner with multiple manufacturers to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and build an ‘open ecosystem’ of low cost devices. This is yet another step in our ongoing journey to deeply understand customers and bring innovation that delights them.”