BSNL in a bid to take on Airtel and Reliance Jio, has tied up with device-makers Lava and Micromax to offer mobile handsets at low cos. (Image Source: PTI)
In a good news for customers, BSNL in a bid to take on Airtel and Reliance Jio, has tied up with device-makers Lava and Micromax to offer mobile handsets at low cost to its customers, reported PTI on Thursday night. Not just this, BSNL will also give bundled offers with these handsets. The cost of these handsets and plans is yet to be decided. “BSNL has tied up with Micromax and Lava to provide instruments to BSNL customers at low cost. We are coming out with bundled offers on the handsets manufactured by Micromax and Lava with BSNL SIMs…the cost details are being worked out,” BSNL’s Hyderabad Telecom District (HTD) Principal General Manager K Ramchand was quoted saying by PTI.
Ramchand also added that six rural exchanges are commissioned with Wi-Fi in Hyderabad Telecom District and another 112 rural exchanges will be covered by December end this year. Talking about the recently launched ‘Plan 429’ under which BSNL offers unlimited voice calling and 1 GB data per day, he said that since its launch there have been more than 3.5 lakh connections under Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Circles. On linking of Aadhar with mobile numbers, the BSNL official said a total 68,000 have already been linked in HTD.
These new handsets by BSNL will compete with Reliance Jio Phone which is available effectively free of cost. This feature phone which was launched by Mukesh Ambani earlier this year is priced at Rs 1500 but the entire amount will be refunded after 3 years.
Meanwhile, many media reports have suggested that to take on Jio, Bharti Airtel might also come up with 4G-enabled feature phones. Intex and Lava are said to be working on similar devices while Micromax rolled out its Bharat One phone in September.
