Vodafone, Micromax come together to launch Bharat 2 Ultra at effective price of Rs 999

After Reliance JioPhone, Airtel A40 and BSNL's Micromax Bharat 1, it's Vodafone's turn to launch an ultra cheap internet phone. The new phone is called Bharat 2 Ultra and will be manufactured by Micromax. Unlike Reliance JioPhone, this device will be a smartphone that will run on Android.

The device looks like an average smartphone and comes with the usual host of features but in a toned down way. The manufacturing costs of the device is still unclear but Vodafone has managed to place the device right in the ultra-cheap segment.

This 4G smartphone will be available at an effective price of Rs 999. The device will go on sale from November. Despite the effective price, the user will have to pay a total sum of Rs 2,899 while purchasing it.

Similar to all phones launched in collaboration with network operators, even the Bharat 2 Ultra will come with its fair share of terms and conditions. The user will have to do a minimum recharge of Rs 150 to be eligible for the cashback.

Once the buyer completes 18 months, the user will get a cashback of Rs 900. On completion of 36 months, the user will get a cashback of Rs 1000 bringing the effective price of the device down to Rs 999.

Unlike other network providers, Vodafone has not launched any exclusive data and voice pack for the device. There is no restriction on the use of any data pack as long as the user satisfies the minimum requirement of a recharge of Rs 150 per month.

Vodafone India believes that this new partnership will democratise the 4G smartphone technology. The company is aiming at the feature phone market which is still comprises the majority of the phone market.  Commenting on the launch Avneesh Khosla, Associate Director - Consumer Business, Vodafone India said, "We are delighted to partner with Micromax to democratize the 4G smart phones at a never before price of under Rs 999. This will help fulfill the aspirations of several million phone users across the country who desire a smart phone but couldn't afford one. It will also encourage current non users of 4G to upgrade and enjoy a richer user experience with Vodafone SuperNet 4G."

Micromax built the new Bharat series for the first generation smartphone users. The company also paired with BSNL to launch the Bharat 1, which comes with an exclusive Rs 97 recharge which offers unlimited calls and data. Micromax Co-Founder, Rahul Sharma said, "The Bharat-Series, has been aimed for acquisition of the first generation smartphone users. This partnership with Vodafone will help bring in the next phase of smartphone adoption by hand-holding consumers to upgrade them from feature phones to smartphones. We believe that greater device affordability and low cost data packs will drive increased smartphone adoption, as there is still a huge gap. At Micromax we want to give superior device experience in an affordable way and Bharat range is a testimony of the same, having already sold more than 2 million handsets."