Airtel partners Karbonn to roll out a 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs 1,399

In a bid to take on Reliance Jio's recently launched 4G mobile phone, Airtel is partnering 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.

Under the ‘Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone’ initiative, the Karbonn A40 Indian – will now come at an effective price of just Rs 1,399 (compared to its current market price of Rs 3,499). The smartphone will be sold to consumers for a down payment of Rs 2,899, on which Airtel will give cash back of Rs 1,500 over three years on the condition that consumers recharge their phones with a minimum pack of Rs 169 every month. The recharge will offer unlimited voice calls and 500 MB data every day.

In case the customer does not wish to opt for the Rs 169 bundled plan, she/he has the flexibility of doing recharges of any denomination and validity as per individual requirements. However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3,000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3,000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1,000).

The ownership of the smartphone is completely with the customer and there is no need to return the device to Airtel or Karbonn at any point to claim the cash benefit, the company added. This is in reference to Reliance Jio’s JioPhone that one needs to return at the end of three years to get Rs 1,500 back.

Karbonn A40 Indian comes with a 4-inches screen and 1GB RAM. The smartphone, with 8GB internal memory, runs Android 7.0 Nougat and has dual camera setup. All smartphones under the ‘Mera Pehla 4G Smartphone’ initiative will be available at leading mobile stores across the country. After sales support for the devices will be provided by the handset manufacturers through their service network.