4G smartphones are getting more expensive as days go by. This has happened because the COVID-19 spread across the world. Supply chains have been hit, and the cost of shipment of mobile parts has increased. Even the chipset costs have gone up due to extremely high demand, whereas there is a very limited supply.
Indian telcos are trying to move the 2G users to 4G as fast as possible. It is in the interest of the telcos as they want to earn higher revenues by potentially increasing the average revenue per user (ARPU) figure.
But shifting from a cheap 2G phone to a 4G phone is something that many legacy network users won’t like to do if the 4G smartphones are expensive.
Mukesh Ambani Wants India to Become 2G Mukt
In his earlier statements, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), has said that Jio wants India to become a 2G Mukt country. This will enable better connectivity access to people who are still using legacy networks. Further, it would help the industry in earning more revenue.
Most of the 2G network users are people who are very old and don’t find 4G to be any use for them or people who are in rural areas where there are no 4G networks. Reliance Jio had also tried to come out with the JioPhone Next, an affordable 4G smartphone for the Indian masses to ensure that everyone could carry a 4G device. But upon the launch of the smartphone, it was pretty clear that JioPhone Next wouldn’t be the device that would attract 2G users. The reason was its price. It was unlike anything that Jio had hinted to users to deliver.
Smartphones launching even in the midrange or the budget range category today aren’t as affordable as they used to be. The reason is the supply chain issues in the global market, which are inflating the manufacturing costs for the smartphone vendors.
Legacy networks are only adding to the maintenance cost of the operators and aren’t earning them enough money. Telcos need to find a solution to this issue pretty soon.
