Asia Express - Mobile Communications
Bharti Airtel to Sell iPhone 3GS in India
March 25, 2010
Indian telecom operator Bharti Airtel announced on March 19 that the company and Apple have entered into an agreement, whereby the latter will sell iPhone 3GS, the latest version of iPhone, through Bharti Airtel in India, according to a press release by Bharti Airtel on March 19. With a subscriber base of more than 124 million, Airtel is set to sell iPhone 3GS at Airtel Authorized Stores in India in the upcoming months, according to the same source. According to the Airtel website, iPhone 3GS will be available in 16GB and 32GB, with an expected price tag of around 33,000 Rupees (US$ 723.7; US$1 = 45.6 Rupees) and 42,000 Rupees (US$921.1), respectively. In addition, there is no exchange offer available for existing iPhone users and Airtel is yet to announce whether it will offer any iPhone 3GS service plans, according again to the website. Further details regarding the phone price and the exact time of release, however, were not yet known. iPhone 3G has been distributed through Bharti Airtel and Vodafone since August 22, 2008. The other telecom operator Vodafone was not immediately available for comment.