How will a 4G feature phone change things? The Economic Times reported last year that Reliance Jio is preparing to launch a 4G feature phone, priced at Rs 1000, and possibly being launched with unlimited voice and data. It had reported that Reliance Jio is working with Lava and Chinese OEMs to manufacture such phones. Feature phones lack the processing power of a smartphone, and thus lack significant Internet access features and the ability to run heavy apps, but do still have basic Internet access features. An example of a feature phone with significant Internet access features was the now-discontinued Nokia Asha series, which also came with Whatsapp. The Nokia 210 even had a dedicated Whatsapp button, although these typically ran on 2G networks. When asked about this 4G feature phone, Airtel India CEO & MD Gopal Vittal said that "our understanding is that something is in the works and could potentially get launched sometime between April and June." Not that Airtel is launching it, though. Vittal believes that the "landed cost of this device into India, post duties and so on and so forth, would be in the ballpark of Rs.2000 to Rs.2200, which will therefore make it a very, very affordable phone, as an up-gradation from a basic feature phone. Now, you must remember that feature phones are sold at Rs 1000 to Rs 1200. And there is a big difference between a Rs 1000, Rs 1200 and a Rs 2200 phone even in a market like India."…
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