After Karbonn, Bharti Airtel has now tied up with Celkon to offer a full touchscreen 4G smartphone at an effective price of Rs 1,349 and an upfront cost of Rs 2,849.
The partnership is part of Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative. It had announced a similar offer in association with Karbonn two weeks ago.
The program is a quasi-bundling scheme, in which the manufacturer promises to sell the handset at a low price, while Airtel gives back part of the money paid by a subscriber to use its wireless service as a loyalty payment after a while.
The manufacturer benefits by increased sales, while the operator benefits due to the higher ‘stickiness’ of the customer who is eager to complete his three-year term and claim the bonus payment.
The customer would have paid at least Rs 6,000 to Airtel in the form of recharges to get the Rs 1,500 cash back.
To avail of this offer, a customer needs to make a down payment of Rs 2849 for the 4G smartphone and make 36 continuous monthly recharges of Rs 169. The customer will get a cash refund of Rs 500 after 18 months and another Rs 1000 after 36 months, taking the total cash benefit to Rs 1500.
In case the customer does not wish to opt for the Rs 169 bundled plan, she/he has the flexibility of doing recharges of any denomination and validity as per individual requirements.
However, to claim the cash refund benefit, recharges worth Rs 3000 must be done within the first 18 months (to claim the first refund installment of Rs 500) and another Rs 3000 over the next 18 months (to claim the second refund installment of Rs 1000).
The ‘Celkon Smart 4G’ is similar to the Karbonn model in terms of specifications. It comes with a four inch touchscreen, dual SIM slots and FM radio.
The Android powered 4G smartphone offers full access to all apps on Google Play Store, including YouTube, Facebook and WhatsApp, the operator said.
The device will come preloaded with MyAirtel App, Wynk Music and Airtel TV to add to the online experience of customers. It comes bundled with a monthly pack of Rs 169 from Airtel, which offers generous data and calling benefits.
Raj Pudipeddi, Director – Consumer Business & CMO, Bharti Airtel said, “We are pleased to partner with Celkon in our endeavour to bring affordable smartphone options to the market and build an ‘open ecosystem’ of low cost devices. Celkon has strong brand affinity and deep distribution in southern Indian markets, and our partnership will enable us to serve a large set of customers with this affordable smartphone proposition.”
The ownership of the smartphone is completely with the customer and there is no need to return the device to Airtel/Celkon at any point to claim the cash benefit, Airtel said.
‘Celkon Smart 4G’ is available at all leading mobile stores. Customer can purchase the smartphone from any of these stores and get the prepaid recharge done from any Airtel retailer. After sales support for the device will be provided by Celkon through their service network.
| Model | Celkon Smart 4G |
| Screen | 4” full touch screen enabling a great video, online and social media experience |
| Operating System | Android v6.0 (Marshmallow). An open ecosystem that offers access to all apps on Google Playstore including YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook and much more |
| Preloaded Airtel Apps | My Airtel App, Airtel TV, Wynk Music that offer digital self-serve and exciting digital content |
| Processor, Battery | 1.3 GhZ quad core processor, 1500 mAh battery |
| RAM | 1 GB, allowing smooth running of multiple applications |
| ROM | 8GB (expandable upto 32 GB, offering ample storage for multiple apps, songs, pictures and video) |
| SIM | Dual SIM Slots (both Open) |
| Camera | Dual Camera. Rear – 3.2 MP and Front – 2 MP |
| Network support | 4G VOLTE /3G/2G offering seamless voice and data connectivity over Airtel’s nationwide network |
| Connectivity | Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS |
| Others | microUSB 2.0 port, FM Radio, MPEG 4 video support and Smart wakeup |