An Indian company has launched a smartphone that costs just
£2.50 - what many of us pay for our morning coffee.
The company behind it, Ringing Bells, says its mission is to
give citizens in rural and semi-urban areas access to digital technology.
Such parts of India have a population of half a
billion people.
The Freedom 251 phone (costing Indian Rs 251) has a
four-inch screen and runs Android Lillipop software.
It has a 1.3GHz quad-core processor and 8GB of memory, which
can be expanded to 32GB.
There are cameras back and front.
A women's safety app is pre-loaded, while other
apps are aimed at farmers, fishermen, and provide medical assistance to
the elderly.
Ringing Bells is offering a one-year warranty and has more
than 650 service centres across the country.
It is working with two Indian government initiatives.
A report from the Internet and Mobile Association of India,
and KPMG, says that India
has 236 million mobile internet users.
That figure is expected to rise to 317 million next year.
But there are doubts about whether the Freedom 251’s low
price is commercially viable.
A mobile entrepreneur, Sachin Gaur, told Sky News: "India
is a country of announcements and such launches need to be taken with a pinch
of salt.
"It's an artificial pricing and subsidised by companies
and investors. It's got to have a longevity and be able to sustain itself.”
Pointing to the Akash tablet, launched for just £30 in
2011, Mr Gaur said: "It fizzled out as it was unsustainable and fell by
the wayside."
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