Low-cost Jio-Google 4G smartphone won't impact, says Bharti Airtel

Bharti Airtel said the upcoming low-cost 4G smartphone from the Reliance Jio-Google combine won’t hurt its revenues as 2G device users, typically, upgrade to smartphones priced above Rs 7,000 and prefer the Sunil Mittal-led telco’s mobile network.

India’s No 2 telco, in fact, expects the advent of the Jio-Google budget smartphone to trigger customer upgrades from feature phones to smartphones, which would end up complementing Airtel’s strategy of focusing on quality customers with world-class services. Airtel has been refarming its 2G and 3G airwaves for 4G services and has been pushing its feature phone users to go 4G.

“Our experience has shown that as customers with entry-level devices upgrade to quality smartphones (priced over Rs 7000), they demonstrate a strong preference for Airtel’s brand and network,” Airtel said in an emailed statement to ET.

The company added that Airtel would “continue to work with device manufacturers” to make quality smartphones accessible for customers through innovative financing and bundling offers. And in doing so, it would strengthen the efforts of all its partners in the ecosystem.

Airtel’s statement came hours after Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani said that telecom arm, Jio, in partnership with Google, would launch India's most affordable 4G smartphone on September 10, targeting the country’s 300 million-odd 2G device users.

About a year back, Ambani had called on the government to speed up policy measures to ensure the rapid end of 2G mobile technology in India, a move that analysts had said could hit legacy rivals Airtel and Vodafone Idea, who have nearly 300 million 2G users among them who are critical to their revenue streams.

Airtel has till date maintained that it has no plans to switch off its 2G networks, saying that any such decision could only be taken once 2G services stop generating any meaningful revenue for the company, which isn’t the case now.