“Airtel is said to be in talks with a number of manufacturers to introduce VoLTE smartphones priced within Rs 2,500”
Bharti Airtel is reportedly considering launching inexpensive, VoLTE-enabled smartphones priced under Rs 2,500. The move is in advanced stages now, and the company is in talks with a number of smartphone manufacturers to figure out the specifics of the deal. The report by The Financial Express also states that the move is being planned to help migrate the 200 million Airtel 2G subscribers to 4G, thereby ramping up the number of users on the operator’s VoLTE network as well as freeing up the 900MHz spectrum band to help contribute to the 4G connectivity.
From the business perspective, the report states that if Airtel can successfully execute this move, it will get an increase of Rs 35-40 on its average realisation per user (ARPU). The company has realised that many of its 2G users recharge for as little as Rs 10 every month, and use their connection for barely anything more than incoming voice calls. This, in turn, affects the company’s ARPU. To prevent this, the operator is planning to make it mandatory to make minimum recharges worth at least Rs 50 per user, up from the recently-introduced Rs 35 minimum recharge value.
Source: 91mobiles.com
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