Reliance Info slashes handset costs by 40%

Lowering the entry-level for consumers in the telecommunications space, private telephony major Reliance Infocomm has cut the costs of handsets by a whopping 40 per cent for black and white instruments and 15 per cent for the colour-enabled ones.

This follows the company's launch of the One India campaign and the SMS schemes. Reliance Infocomm also plans to launch an array of new handsets in the country.

The company is offering its base model - an LG 2340 black and white handset - for Rs 1,500, a 40-per cent price cut from the previous Rs 2,500.

The slash in prices range from handset to handset, with the overall reduction ranging from 15 to 40 per cent, according to sources in the company.

Reliance is also offering a 15-per cent reduction on LG colour handsets, mainly for an LG 5340, which is available for Rs 4,500. After the 15-per cent reduction the price would come down to Rs 3,800, they said.

According to telecom analysts, the slash in handset prices will have a "great impact in the Indian market and this reduction will not only force leading handsets manufacturers like Nokia and Motorola to follow suit, but also propel the Indian market to a completely new and higher level of growth."

Reliance Infocomm had earlier launched an India One scheme that offered calls for Re 1 across the country. The move helped the company in adding over one million subscribers each, in December 2005 and January 2006.

At present, the rate of acquisitions in the Indian market is at four million new subscribers per month. With the latest initiative, Reliance expects the Indian market to catch up with its Chinese counterpart, with the net subscriber numbers reaching a figure of six million per month by the middle of this year.

A Reliance Infocomm official said, "In the coming months, the company will launch a wide range of products, offering high value and quality to the consumers across all the segments.

These would include low-end handsets as well as multimedia-enabled colour handsets, to leverage the capabilities of the CDMA data network".