AIRTEL, KARBON TIE UP TO OFFER JIO-LIKE PLAN

New Delhi, Oct. 11: Bharti Airtel on Wednesday launched a ‘low cost’ 4G smartphone in partnership with Chinese handset maker Karbonn Mobiles to counter Reliance’s ‘free’ JioPhone offer.

The phone will ‘effectively cost’ `1,399, for which customers will have to make 36 continuous monthly recharges of `169 and get two cash refunds — `500 after 18 months and another `1,000 after 36 month, Airtel said in a statement. The dual-SIM device has 8GB memory, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS.

The plan comes just when Mukesh Ambaniled Reliance Jio has started delivering to prebooked customers a lowcost 4G-enabled smart feature phone on payment of a one-time refundable deposit of `1,500.

“The customer needs to make a down payment of `2,899 for the 4G smartphone and make 36 continuous monthly recharges of `169. The customer will get a cash refund of `500 after 18 months and another `1,000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to `1,500,” it said.

Those not wanting to opt for the `169 bundled plan will have to do recharges worth `3,000 within the first 18 months to claim the first refund of `500, and recharge by another `3,000 over the next 18 months to claim the second refund of `1,000. Airtel said the partnership with Karbonn is the first of several partnerships that it plans to have with mobile handset makers.