With the onset of the festive season, BSNL and Micromax have joined hands to launch a new 4G feature phone, called the Bharat 1. Priced at Rs 2,200, the feature phone will be available across India at offline and online retail points, starting October 20.

Referred to as the “pataka phone” by Micromax, the Bharat 1 attempts to compete against the Reliance JioPhone with its offerings. Essentially, the Bharat 1 comes bundled with a Rs 97 BSNL Unlimited Plan, in which users get unlimited calling hours, unlimited data, free roaming and free SMS, with a one-month validity.

“With the Rs 97 plan offered by BSNL with the Bharat 1, I believe the network provider will be able to make its mark with this offering in the competitive telecom industry,” said Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha at the event.

In terms of specifications, the Micromax Bharat 1 features a 2.4-inch QVGA display, and a removable battery. Under the hood is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 205 chipset with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of onboard storage. For photography, it has a basic VGA selfie camera, and a 2-megapixel camera at the back.

The Bharat 1 comes with dual-SIM connectivity and support for 3G and 4G VoLTE. It is fueled by a 2,000mAh battery. The feature phone has support for 22 Indian languages. 

Additionally, the Bharat 1 comes bundled with the BHIM app, and has support for net banking, and access to the BSNL app. It also has Live TV, music, movies and videos bundled with it.

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has tied up with device-makers Lava and Micromax to offer mobile handsets at low cost to its customers with bundled offers, a senior official said today.

“BSNL has tied up with Micromax and Lava to provide instruments to BSNL customers at low cost. We are coming out with bundled offers on the handsets manufactured by Micromax and Lava with BSNL SIMs…the cost details are being worked out,” BSNL’s Hyderabad Telecom District (HTD) Principal General Manager K Ramchand told reporters here.

He said six rural exchanges are commissioned with Wi-Fi in Hyderabad Telecom District and another 112 rural exchanges will be covered by December end this year. On BSNL’s latest ‘Plan 429′, which was launched recently, that provides unlimited voice and 1GB data per day for 90 days for prepaid mobile services for Rs 429, he said since its launch there have been more than 3.5 lakh connections under Andhra Pradesh and Telangana Circles.

On linking of Aadhaar with mobile numbers, the BSNL official said a total 68,000 have already been linked in HTD.

India will host its very-own mobile congress between September 27 and 29 at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi. In its first edition, the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2017 will feature a three-day exhibition where prominent mobile manufacturers, internet solution providers, and telecom operators will showcase their technologies and products. With as many as 300 exhibitors lined up for the IMC, here’s a look at the top expected things.

Akin to Mobile World Congress in Barcelona edition, the India Mobile Congress is also expected to see Nokia as one of the key exhibitors. At the preview conference, Nokia’s Head of Marketing and Communication (CMO) Amit Marwah said that there will be up to 20 technology demonstrations at the event. This will also include the company’s OZO 360-degree virtual reality camera. In addition to the tech demos, all of Nokia’s latest phones will be on display. While Marwah did not explicitly mention, but we can expect the Nokia 8 to make its presence felt, along with the Nokia 5, Nokia 6, and Nokia 3.

Nokia won’t be the only brand at IMC 2017. A range of other manufacturers – local and foreign – will also be present at the event. These include Micromax, Lava, and LG among others. 

India is rapidly pacing towards the adoption of 4G services, and now the time befits to start the chatter around the next-gen 5G services. IMC is said to be the platform facilitating talks, and showcasing of 5G solutions for consumers and enterprises. Recently, Airtel partnered South Korea’s SK Telecom to build 5G network for India. As Airtel is also one of the exhibitors at the event, we might see how the alliance is shaping up.

In line with Make in India, ISRO’s indigenous navigation satellite is under development. At IMC, the space agency will showcase the technology and detail the working of NavIC. The ‘desi’ navigation system is poised to compete with other navigation systems, including GPS (Global Positioning System), which is built by the US.

Among telecom operators, the PSU telecom operator will showcase its network services at the event. BSNL is also likely to detail its plans for 5G deployment in the country. VK Sharma at the preview conference said that by end of 2018, BSNL will also provide 5G services in the country. Idea Cellular, on the other hand, will be showcasing enterprise solutions that are built for India. 

Other than Nokia’s OZO, Qualcomm will also focus on the emerging virtual reality technology. The chipmaker, one of the key exhibitors at IMC, is likely to showcase technology or solutions built to accelerate the development, and adoption of VR in the consumer space.

Artificial intelligence, another technology which is fast expanding, will be demonstrated by IBM. The company is expected to detail its work in the field, and demo solutions for consumers and enterprises.

As COAI Chairman Rajan Mathews pointed during the media briefing, IoT is one of the immediate technological needs for India. At IMC, Internet of Things or IoT is said to hog plenty of limelight driven by the need and interest in the Indian context. From industry automation to consumer space, we might be able to witness companies showcasing their internet connected products and services. Some of these solutions will be targeted at the agricultural space in the country, and how to better it.

{BGR}