Airtel and Intex partner up to launch a range of affordable 4G smartphones

An Airtel store. Reuters[/caption]According to the telecommunications services provider, the Intex Aqua Lions N1 — a new 4G smartphone from the Intex stable — will be available to Airtel customers at a discounted price of Rs 1,649 compared to the market price of Rs 3,799."The all-new 4G smartphones come bundled with a monthly pack of Rs 169 from Airtel, offering generous data and calling benefits," the company said in a statement."We are really pleased to see the continued positive response to our ‘mera pehla smartphone' initiative from customers as well as smartphone manufacturers," said Ajai Puri, Chief Operating Officer (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel.The statement said under the initiative, Airtel aimed to partner with multiple mobile handset manufacturers to create an ‘open ecosystem' of affordable 4G smartphones and bring them to market for virtually the price of a feature phone.In addition to the Intex Aqua Lions N1, two more affordable 4G smartphones have been introduced under the initiative -- Intex Aqua A4 and Intex Aqua S3.