Airtel, In Association With Lava, Micromax, To Launch Android Go Smartphones

Bharti Airtel, India's largest telecommunications services provider, and Google Inc today announced a partnership to bring low-cost smartphones powered by Android Oreo (Go edition) to the Indian market. Airtel will bring these low-cost smartphones in association with Lava and Micromax. With this, India will become one of the first countries to commercially roll-out smartphones running on Android Oreo (Go edition), Airtel said in a statement. Android Oreo (Go edition) is a configuration of the Android operating system specifically optimized for devices with 1 GB of RAM or less.

Android Oreo (Go edition) comes with a new range of apps designed to run faster while using less data.

Entry-level 4G smartphones under Airtel's 'Mera Pehla Smartphone' program will be shipped with Android Oreo (Go edition) as standard OS starting March 2018 in association with Lava and Micromax, Airtel said in a statement. These smartphones with basic specs will also come pre-loaded with compatible apps, including MyAirtel App, Airtel TV and Wynk Music.

Vani Venkatesh, Chief Marketing Officer - Bharti Airtel, said: "This partnership is a major milestone for the 'Mera Pehla Smartphone' initiative. Android Go will provide a massive boost to our efforts to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and potentially enable hundreds of millions of feature phone users and unconnected people to get online. We are excited to collaborate with Google and our device partners to work towards this shared vision of bringing smartphones within the reach of more people."

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'Mera Pehla Smartphone' initiative was launched by Airtel in October to bring 4G smartphones at budget friendly prices. Airtel has partnered with many smartphone-makers for this initiative.


Jon Gold, director of Android Partnerships, said, "Android's mission has always been to bring the power of computing to everyone. We are excited to see Airtel take a leading role in that effort through introducing a range of devices powered by Android Oreo (Go edition)."