3g Handset Makers To Ring In A Rs 3,500-4,000 Offering! Huawei, Lg, Motorola To Provide Low Cost Entry Level 3g Mobiles !

[Honest 836]

3G handset makers to ring in a Rs 3,500-4,000 offering

Business Standard, New Delhi August 4, 2008, 0:17 IST

With 3G mobile services, which provide high-speed downloads of data, movies and videos, around six month away, mobile phone makers are getting ready to offer handsets for as little as Rs 3,500, against the currently available minimum price of over Rs 8,000.

Chinese telecom giant Huawei Technologies is already in talks with leading Indian operators of GSM mobile services to sell a 3G entry-level phone within $80 to $100.

Company executives said bulk deals with operators would push down prices of 3G handsets further. Huawei has supplied these basic 3G phones to operators in the Hong Kong market.

South Korean electronics giant LG Electronics has the KU250 3G phone model, which is positioned as one of the cheapest phones in this category around the globe. “We will launch an adaptation of this model in India for around $100, said Arun Arora, senior business group head of LG Electronics India.

Motorola India also expects prices to fall dramatically. “We expect the prices of phones to come down to Rs 4,000-5,000,” said Lloyd Mathias, senior director, sales distribution and marketing.

“Initially, they might be available at Rs 5,000-6,000 at the top level,” he added.

Motorola has about three 3G models that range from Rs 14,000 to Rs 19,000. “With the policy guidelines issued last week for 3G, we will look at bringing in more 3G handsets in the market,” Mathias added.

The availability of reasonably priced phones has already made many experts change their forecast of the size of the 3G market from 40 million to 70 million by 2012 to100 million and 150 million (when India is expected to have 700-750 mobile subscribers up from roughly 300 million today).

“About 15 to 20 per cent of the mobile phones in India are 3G- enabled. So there is already a market waiting to be converted,” said Sunil Dutt who heads Samsung India's mobile handset business.

Dutt added that 30 per cent of the mobile phones sold in the country cost over Rs 4,000 and that is a market that will be able to afford a 3G handset at $100.

Also, contrary to common belief, 3G will not be a premium service. Operators said a start-up package could cost around Rs 299, which is roughly what consumers pay for a fixed broadband service. Unlimited downloading may require subscribers to pay Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 a month.

“3G will not be an elite service but a service for the middle class and it will bring about a broadband wireless revolution,” predicted Cellular Operations Association of India (COAI) director general T V Ramachandran.

Last week, the government announced the 3G policy guidelines that will give 5 to ten operators per service area licences and spectrum to launch the service. Service providers will be chosen through an auction process.

[Honest 836]

Qualcomm in talks with OEMs to launch 3G-enabled smartphones

31 Aug, 2008, 1342 hrs IST, PTI

NEW DELHI: With 3G services set to be rolled out by the year-end,mobile chipset maker Qualcomm said it is in talks with vendors and original equipment manufacturers to launch 3G enabled affordable smartphones in the country at a price tag of below Rs 10,000.

"We are working with our OEMs to bring to market smartphones at an affordable range of below Rs 10,000," Qualcomm Vice-President and Country Manager of technology Sandeep Sibal told reporters.

He said Qualcomm would work with OEM partners to make smartphones a mass-use product. Qualcomm has OEM partners like ZTE, Huawei, LG, Samsung, HTC.

Smartphones have complete features of mobile phones and personal computer like functionality.

Last month, Apple Inc launched its much-touted iPhone in the country in tie up with Vodafone and Airtel atRs 31,000 and Rs 36,000.

The current price of smartphones from most of the branded vendors are over Rs 15,000 and this has discouraged mass use of these high-end phones.

Last month, Communications and IT Minister A Rajasaid the spectrum for the 3G services would be auctioned by October -end and hoped that services in the country would start by the year-end.

Even as most CDMA (code division multiple access) operators in the country are planning to offer telecom services in GSM (global systems for mobile communications) as well, Sibal said it is unlikely to affect Qualcomm's business here as it has much to offer in the India market.

Moreover, some operators like Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd and Shyam are planning significant expansion in CDMA services, he added.

[Honest 836]

Qualcomm plans Rs 4,000 3G mobile

19 Sep, 2008, 0000 hrs IST, ET

MUMBAI: In a bid to make 3G handsets affordable, US-based chip giant Qualcomm is working with handset manufacturers and telecom operators (both CDMA and GSM) to launch 3G-enabled mobiles for as low as Rs 4,000 in India.

These handsets, which will offer Internet on mobile besides other features, will be available early next year. Also, 3G smartphones, on the lines of Apple iPhone and Nokia’s N96, will be rolled out in the second half of 2009 with an entry-level price tag of Rs 10,000.

“We are in talks with all operators to explore, along with our OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), how this space can be penetrated so as to increase the addressable market. We are working to make sure 3G entry-level phones start at Rs 4,000. Affordable 3G smartphones, beginning at Rs 10,000, will bring in a new dimension to enterprise connectivity,” Qualcomm India and South Asia president Kanwalinder Singh told ET.

Qualcomm will provide the chipsets for mobiles and other devices. These are used by low-cost manufacturers like Huawei and ZTE to make handsets while telecom operators bundle them with their services because it increases their revenues from new applications and value added services (VAS).

The San Diego-headquartered company is also bringing together its OEMs and GSM operators to offer data card connectivity solutions comparable to CDMA operators. “3G USB modems will bring ‘always on’ wireless broadband connectivity to laptops and desktops. These modems will enter the market in the Rs 3,500 price range,” he said.

Currently, the data card market in India is dominated by Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications (RCOM). Till now, Qualcomm has only been associated with CDMA operators. However, as 3G comes to India, Qualcomm is also working with GSM service providers including Airtel, Vodafone Essar and Idea. This is because for evolution to 3G services, the GSM community has chosen wideband-CDMA radio interface, which increases data transmission rates in GSM systems.

Globally, GSM 2G is transitioning to 3G. “In India, we will drive a similar trend and bring in affordable tiered solutions to stimulate mass market adoptions. While the key application of all 3G handsets will be no-compromise-access to mobile Internet, various price points will provide experience of different kinds. We expect all devices to support downloading and uploading of videos,” Mr Singh said. According to technology research firm IDC, 3G feature phones and smartphones in the range of Rs 4,000 and above will account for 30% of the Indian handset market.

[spknair 1]

Reliance's first LG handset (2030) also had a sticker mentioning that it is 3G. What is meant by that?

[Harshal 11]

Reliance's first LG handset (2030) also had a sticker mentioning that it is 3G. What is meant by that?

According to the terms used right now, those sets are not 3G but 2.5G. Since, the speeds are faster than the 2G GSMs but much slower than 3G as we now know it. So a misnomer I would say.