Airtel to launch 4G handsets priced at Rs 4,000

To counter Reliance Jio's bid to capture the 4G services market with low cost bundled handsets, telecom major Bharti Airtel is planning to launch Airtel branded smartphones for Rs 4,000 by October-November.

The company is in discussions with Chinese vendors and even held talks with Taiwan based Foxconn, which has set up its mobile manufacturing plant in India. However, no immediate comments were received from Airtel and Foxconn. RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani in the company's annual general meeting said that with the effort of Reliance Jio Infocomm, the country will get to see 4G mobile phones for less than Rs 4,000.

Sources added that the handset will come with long term bundled plan but may not be locked only to the Airtel network. Airtel has started launching 4G service across the country in a phased manner. It has launched services across cities like Nagpur, Aurangabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chandigarh, and Patiala among others.

Further, 4G trials have been launched for existing Airtel customers in Delhi, Hyderabad, Vizag, Madurai, Chennai, Coimbatore and Mumbai.