Huawei is planning to launch new smartphones equipped with 4G LTE support under the price of Rs. 10,000 in the Indian market within coming six months, as mentioned in a report by TOI. Telecom players like Airtel are already offers TDD-LTE services in some cities and Reliance Jio is also underway to provide LTE by mid-2015 through an integrated ecosystem as it owns both 1800 MHz FDD-LTE and on 2300 MHz TDD-LTE spectrum.
In an interview with the Times of India, P. Sanjeev, Director for devices sales, Huawei,said,”We are the largest owner of essential patents for 4G technology. The essential patents are technology required to connect with 4G network. Within 3-6 months, we have plans to launch 4G handsets below Rs 10,000. The combination of our own patents and arrangement with other companies has helped us in making devices in affordable price range. We sell devices which mostly use our patent technologies.”he said.
Moreover, there are other spectrum holders too in the race like BSNL, Tikona and Augere. As anticipated, there will be a huge jump in the demand for 4G smartphones as soon as telecom operators launch 4G services pan India. Although, many companies have already launched their mid-range 4G enabled phones in India but the budget 4G smartphones are still making a slow entry. A week ago, Microsoft has also launched the Nokia Lumia 638 smartphone with 4G LTE support, priced at Rs. 8,299.
Moreover, Xiaomi has also launched the Redmi Note 4G in India sometime back, that too at a price of Rs. 9,999, which will be up for sale towards the end of this month. Adding to the competition, yesterday, Micromax has also launched the YUREKA smartphone for Rs. 8,999, which will be going on sale around second week of January. Both Xiaomi Redmi Note 4G and Yureka support current 2300 MHz TDD-LTE (Band 40) and upcoming 1800 MHz FDD-LTE (Band 3) for India.
