Idea, Vodafone to launch JioPhone rival

Mobile phone users looking to upgrade to Smartphones will have plenty of options this festive season with Idea Cellular and Vodafone India set to join Bharti Airtel in offering 4G phones at effective price of around or less than Rs 1,500.

Both Vodafone and Kumar Mangalam Birla-owned Idea are in talks with domestic handset makers including Lava and Karbonn to jointly roll out a new set of Smartphones in the Rs 1,500 range to take on Sunil Mittal-owned Airtel and Mukesh Ambani-owned Reliance Jio Infocomm.

Airtel has announced the launch of an entry-level 4G Smartphone at an 'effective price' of Rs 1,399 in tie up with handset maker Karbonn while newcomer Jio offers its 4G feature phone Jio Phone at a security deposit of Rs 1,500.

Now, Idea and Vodafone, which are in the process of a mega merger to create the country's largest telco, are set to join the race to woo the pool of 500 million mobile users who do not have Smartphones.

Mobile Phone Users in Rural India Cross 100 Million

According to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the country had 109.7 million rural mobile subscribers at the end of the first quarter, which is up by 18 percent from 93.2 million users in the fourth quarter of last year.

The country's 282 million urban wireless subscribers accounted for 72 percent of all mobile users at the end of the first quarter.

Indian mobile services companies and handset vendors have identified the rural market as a new growth opportunity, as urban markets are getting saturated.

For example, Nokia has launched its Life Tools service in June, after a pilot project in the Indian state of Maharashtra. The service offers agriculture information, education, and entertainment targeted at people in both rural areas and small towns.

The number of mobile subscribers in the country is on the upswing with demand both from rural and urban markets.

According to TRAI data, the number of subscribers for mobile services across the country has increased to 391.76 million in the quarter ended March this year, up by 50 percent from 261 million in the same quarter last year.

However competition and tariff cuts have brought down the average revenue per user. Indian mobile service providers are focusing on value added services, including applications to boost revenue.

A number of foreign mobile service providers have invested in joint ventures in India, including Vodafone and NTT DoCoMo.

Tata Teleservices, which has NTT DoCoMo as an investor, has begun rolling out services across India under the Tata DoCoMo brand. NTT DoCoMo said it plans to progressively bring to India new services such as its i-mode wireless Internet service, location-based services, and mobile payment.

Vodafone comes with Microsoft Online Services

World's largest mobile phone network operator (by revenue), Vodafone is going to offer Microsoft Online Services to small and medium-sized businesses through computer, phone and browser.

The Vodafone Group will sell and manage Microsoft products such as e-mail, calendars, portals, instant messaging and web conferencing tools.

Microsoft Online Services are available in the United States and according to Vodafone Group, these services would be available in other markets in the first half of 2009.

“By combining Vodafone's fixed and mobile communication services with Microsoft Online Services we can provide all the elements of a fully hosted communications solution,” said Tom Craig, Global Business Services Director of Vodafone Group.

Microsoft and Vodafone- the two companies intend to continue growing their partnership through future collaboration and development.

Axis Bank will help you to get Apple 3G iPhone

…and finally Apple 3G iPhone hit the Indian market on Thursday.The third generation Apple iPhone was introduced in India by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone.

Reportedly, Vodafone was selling its phones at 11 stores across Delhi initially, while Bharti was selling it only at the Shahara Mall. But, the phone will be available shortly through 250 Vodafone stores in 50 cities across India and Bharti Airtel will ensure the availability of the iPhone in more than 65 cities. Moreover, the Apple stores will also carry the product.

The 8 GB iPhone is priced at Rs 31,000 and the 16 GB iPhone costs Rs 36,100. It appears rather expensive when compared to the US price. In the US, it costs around $199 which amounts roughly to Rs 8400. In an attempt to defend their price, Sanjay Kapoor, president of mobile services Bharti Airtel, stated that the US price is subsidised as it comes with a two-year airtime contract. Hence, it is not fair to compare these rates.

Vodafone, however has tied up with Axis Bank and Barclays to offer the phone on 6 or 12 equated monthly installments (EMIs) with a lower interest rate in order to make the product affordable for the customers. However, the customers are obligated to buy the iPhone on the credit cards of one of these banks. Bharti Airtel has not come up with any plans for an EMI scheme as yet.

The multipurpose iPhone gadget combines the extra feature of an in-built GPS system, an iPod and a web browser.

Airtel and Vodafone to launch iPhone on 22 August

The iPhone is finally on its way to India. Airtel and Vodafone will be launching iPhone on 22 August 2008. It was earlier reported that only Airtel will be launching the service. However now it has now been confirmed that even Vodafone will be selling iPhones from the same date.

The iPhone will provide 3G services, which are expected to be twice as faster as 2G services. The price details for the phone in India have not yet been released.

According to President Bharti Airtel mobile services Sanjay Kapoor, “iPhone has been an iconic technological revelation of this year and Airtel has been at the forefront of innovation and customer delight in the Indian telecom sector”.

Now what about the price? No one knows the exact price and even the Airtel or Vodafone has not disclosed it either. However, a 3G phone is expected to be sold at about Rs 20,000.