In
a move aimed at increasing its data revenue, telecom major Bharti
Airtel on Tuesday launched its first pan-Africa customised 3G smartphone
for $53 to tap mobile Internet users.
“As
Airtel, we are focused on migrating, existing and new customers from
the traditional feature phones to Android smartphones to take advantage
of Airtel’s 3G networks. We anticipate high uptake levels within the
first six months of operations,” Airtel Africa CEO Christian de Faria
said in a statement.
The
Android KitKat platform-based phone has a memory of 4GB ROM, 512 MB RAM
with 32 GB external memory capacity, a central processing unit (CPU).
The device will be sold at $53 subject to various governments levies and
available at local retail outlets, the statement added.
It
is available in Seychelles, Uganda and Burkina Faso markets with 14
other Airtel operating countries expected to launch the mobile devices
over the next few weeks. “Special attention was given to the device
layout and the user interface to provide quick and simple access to
services like Airtel mobile money and popular social media applications
to our customers,” Faria said.
The
company is driving the new smartphone campaign to help accelerate data
adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa, currently witnessing one of the
strongest increases in mobile data use in the world, the statement said.
Experts
suggest that mobile internet traffic across Africa will double between
2014 and 2015, and will see a 20-fold increase by the end of the decade,
it added. Airtel currently has the widest 3G network in Africa, with a
presence across 17 markets. According to the June 2014 Sub-Saharan
African Mobility reports, data usage in Africa is growing with 3G
technology expected to become the dominant technology across Sub-Sahara
region by 2017, outstripping 2G to become the region’s dominant form of
mobile connection. The phone has feedback options to allow Airtel to
adapt the interface in line with customer feedback and research.
Posted by : Gizmeon
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