RCoM takes price war to FM handsets

MUMBAI: Reliance Communications (RCOM) is all set to take on Vodafone’s low-cost handsets, which the British giant is planning to introduce in India later this year. In its third handset launch within a month, RCOM on Monday announced two FM radio mobiles at Rs 1,888 and Rs 1,919 under its Classic colour phones series.

“We are not competing on price alone. We have many more features and are well prepared,” RCOM president (personal business) SP Shukla told ET. He pointed out that the company scored over competition on three points. “Our handsets are packed with features that are more than being offered by any other mobile in the market today at similar price points. Secondly, we are a national operator and also, we have a chain of after sales service centres across the country,” he said.

“The backing of Reliance is there in our phones. Plus we bring economies of scale on large volumes,” he added. Mr Shukla said he was confident of the company growing its market share. RCOM now has over 30 million subscribers and is the second-largest operator after Bharti Airtel.

Vodafone, which acquired Hutchison Essar last month, has announced that it will roll out low-cost handsets priced at $25 and $40, targeted at emerging markets such as India. While the operator is expected to provide some subsidy when it brings the handsets to India, the amount of it is not yet known. At current prices, Vodafone will sell its low-cost phones at around Rs 1,000 and Rs 1,600, respectively. Nokia’s lowest priced monochrome handsets come at Rs 1,699 currently.

Early last month, RCOM said it had sold 1 million low-cost handsets, priced at Rs 777, Rs 884 and Rs 888 within a week of the launch. Subsequently, RCOM rolled out colour phones beginning at Rs 1,234. The colour phones entered the market on May 18 and over half-a-million units were sold by the end of the month, Mr Shukla pointed out. “Our Classic range of phones have been extremely well received by customers. With FM channels now available in all major cities in the country, our FM radio phones will provide not just mobile connectivity, but also portable entertainment at very affordable prices,” he added.