After Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone plan to launch own affordable 4G smartphones

Barely two months in the market, Reliance Jio’s JioPhone has created a stir enough for telecom manufacturers to gravitate towards 4G phone industry.[caption id="attachment_3342802" align="alignleft" width="380"] Idea and Vodafone.Reuters.[/caption]After Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular and Vodafone are in talks with domestic companies like Karbonn and LAVA to manufacture 4G phones. And the effective cost price is said to be around Rs 1,500. It must be noted that Kumar Mangalam Birla's Idea Cellular and Vodafone are in talks of a merger. As per a previous report the two telecom giants are in the process of completion by March, next year.According to an Economic Times report, while the telecom giants are in the process of completion of a merger, both Karbonn and Lava are said to have confirmed of talks related to the matter. It is also reported that the deal can get finalized by Diwali.Speaking to ET, Gaurav Nigam, product head of LAVA said, “We’re in discussion with all three telcos but plans have not been finalized.”While the company aims to price the yet to be announced product within a effective price range, the handset makers deny bringing the prices of current models down.Airtel had recently launched in collaboration with Karbonn Mobiles, a Karbonn A40, 4G smartphone at a price of Rs 1,399. The phone has a dual SIM slot along with popular apps.Meanwhile, Reliance Jio had launched its 4G feature phone at a security deposit of Rs 1,500. The Reliance Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was addressed by RIL chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani saw the announcement of 4G VoLTE feature phone with support for voice input.In other news, the Chinese telecom equipment and smartphone maker ZTE has said that it has begun its pre-5G trials in India. Indian telecom players such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, and Reliance Jio have partnered with ZTE for this project. They would design and develop future technologies including 5G.Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd.