Bharti Airtel, Indian telecom major has inked a deal with Transsion Holding’s handset brand itel to launch smartphones with cashback offer, having already formed similar tie-ups with Karbonn mobiles, Celkon and Intex. Airtel made an announcement that Itel’s new 4G budget smartphones– itel A41 and itel A40 4G — will come bundled with a 100-day replacement warranty and cashback offer of Rs 1500 over a period of 3 years.
This partnership is a part of Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative. It aims to build an ecosystem of partners to make 4G smartphones devices affordable and within the reach of everyone. The effective cost of device ownership will significantly reduce as the buyers will get an attractive cash-back benefit of Rs. 1500 on itel A41 and itel A40 4G smartphones.
The company said in a statement that both smartphones will already come bundled with a monthly recharge pack of Rs 169 from Airtel. Itel A40 smartphone is going to be priced at Rs 3,099 whereas its earlier price was Rs 4,599, and the itel A41 will now cost Rs 3,199 which was priced at Rs 4,699.
Customers will have to make payment of Rs 4,699 for the itel A41 and Rs 4,599 for the itel A40 and the cashback worth Rs 1,500 will be given to them over a period of 36 months, thereby, reducing the overall effective cost. Airtel said: “Customers who have made Rs 3,000 recharges worth will be eligible for the first cashback of Rs 500 at the end of 18 months.”
Marco Ma, Managing Director, Transsion India said: “The partnership between Bharti Airtel and Itel will provide customers with access to great services and applications like never before and at very attractive price points. We are confident that this partnership will drive 4G adoption across the country and bring the best value for money to both itel and Airtel customers.”
The partnership is a part of Bharti Airtel’s ‘Mera Pehla Smartphone’ initiative which has a goal to make 4G smartphones within the reach of each citizen across the country by building an ecosystem of partners. Ajai Puri, COO, Bharti Airtel, commenting on the new deal said, “Bharti Airtel now has the largest partner ecosystem of smartphone device manufacturers and we thank our partners for sharing our vision of smartphone for every citizen.”
Airtel’s itel smartphones will be easily available across the country at all leading smartphone stores. Meanwhile, Vodafone India, India’s second largest telecom operator, has also been forming partnerships with a slew of handset companies, including Samsung, Intex, and itel. The telco, to counter Reliance Jio’s 4G feature phone, Jio Phone, has also formed some partnerships.
itel smartphones are available at all leading smartphones stores. After-sales support for the device will be provided by itel through its service network and customers can also avail the unique service proposition of 100 days replacement warranty.
With a commitment of 100-days replacement warranty offered by itel on all its products, it is trying to elevate the overall end-to-end ownership experience for its customers.
