Airtel and Google team up to bring low-cost 4G smartphones

Telecom operator Bharti Airtel and Google have teamed up to bring low-cost 4G smartphones powered by Android Oreo (Go Edition). As part of Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ program, the company will ship entry-level 4G smartphones having Android Oreo (Go edition) as standard OS starting March 2018.

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.”

Lava and Micromax will manufacture and launch the first set of 4G smartphones powered by Android Oreo (Go Edition). These smartphones with basic specifications will also come pre-loaded with compatible apps, including MyAirtel App, Airtel TV, and Wynk Music, to ensure a seamless online/app experience for users.

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

Android Oreo (Go edition) is a configuration of the Android operating system specifically optimized for devices with 1GB of RAM or less.