No plans to launch locked feature phone: Airtel CEO Gopal Vittal

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Bharti Airtel has no plans to launch a locked feature phone device like the Jio Bharat device by competitor Reliance Jio last month, chief executive Gopal Vittal said, adding that the telco does not see a significant impact on its 2G user base. The country’s second largest telco said the contribution of the feature phone market to its overall revenue is 18%, and Airtel’s focus is to drive premiumisation by upgrading these users to 4G. Speaking at the carrier’s first quarter earnings call Friday, Vittal said that the telco was not in race with rival Reliance Jio for 5G coverage, and is just focusing on quality services. “We will not be launching any such device. Our feature phone user is on (the) 2G network, and our focus will be on upgrading them to a smartphone,” Vittal said, addressing queries on the impact of the Jio Bharat launch. All Jio's customers are 4G network ones and the new feature phone launch, much like the JioPhone in 2016, is seen as a strategy to tap into basic phone users yet to upgrade to 4G, analysts said.

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While the launch of the JioPhone did have an impact on Airtel back then, the market has since shifted and now the 2G users are fewer, explained Vittal. “Today, the feature phone segment accounts for about 18% of our overall revenues. And more importantly, it's only once in four years that a customer chooses to replace the feature phone. The pricing of this device (Jio Bharat) is slightly higher than the cheapest feature phones,” he said. Vittal reiterated that the telco is doubling down on upgradation of feature phone users to smartphones through bundling, and modest cash backs in the form of loans for locked