Ringing Bells, an Indian handset vendor, is all set to launch a smartphone for under ₹500 ($ 7) on Feb. 17. The vendor already has an LTE-enabled handset that retails for ₹2,999 ($ 43), and with its upcoming phone, called the Freedom 251, it is looking to promote the government’s Make In India initiative, and empower “India to the last person, transforming India’s growth story.”
From the media invite:
The phone will be popularly priced at under Rs 500. This event and launch stands as a true testimony of success of the latest initiatives taken by the Government of India.
The vendor will make the phone with “immense support” from the Indian government, with the country’s Union Minister of Defence Manohar Parrikar set to launch the handset. This isn’t the first time the government has worked with a vendor to make affordable hardware available to the citizenry. In 2011, Datawind was commissioned to make tablets that retailed for $ 45.
We’ll have more details about the Freedom 251 in a day’s time. It will certainly be interesting to see what the vendor manages to offer for $ 7.
Source: Facebook (Ringing Bells)
