Datawind to Bring Super Affordable Android Phones with Free Internet

The Canadian electronics producer, Datawind, has reaped a reputation of providing the most affordable tablets in India. The Aakash tablet, Ubislate 7, and PocketSurfer are among the budget devices that have gained acceptance nationwide. The firm now intends to launch a line of budget-friendly Android smartphones in the country. The handsets will start from just Rs. 2,000 and will provide free internet services for one whole year.

The price of the 2G handset will start from Rs. 2,000, while the 3G version will cost Rs. 1,000 higher than the 2G model at Rs. 3,000. According to Datawind CEO Suneet Singh Tuli, the company is in talks with mobile operators to team up with them. The first target of Datawind is a mobile network carrier with vast customer base like Vodafone, Airtel, or Idea. The Canadian firm will later crack a deal with other operators to cover larger geographical boundaries. He also made clear that they are planning to tie-up with network carriers, the devices will be free to switch to other operators.

The company is eyeing on selling maximum number of devices in the price-conscious market. As per Mr. Tuli, as much as 50 lakh units of Android smartphones will be sold. He further added a statement clarifying the rate at which production of the low-end phone is going:

In line with the Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, we plan to shift production of 90 per cent of total smartphones within 90 days.

Datawind is dedicated to bringing together the unconnected parts of India and said that the company will be paying for the internet services to the data partners.

We haven’t heard anything about when is the company coming up with its new line of handsets, but whenever it arrives in the market, it will play a major role in pushing the country towards wide scale digitization.