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India Rolls Out $20 Cell Phone

The bare-bones 'people's phone' aimed at the half of Indians who have no mobile

By Matt Cantor,  Newser Staff

Posted Feb 14, 2008 1:27 PM CST
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(Newser) – On the heels of India’s $2,400 car comes its $20 mobile handset, the “people’s phone,” the Times of London reports. It has no smart features—not even a screen. “It is just a phone,” says the chairman of Spice Mobile, the phone’s developer, but the company thinks it can sell 10 million over the next year.

The phone will hit Asian markets next month, including India, where well over half the population does not own a cell phone, and the number that do is expected to double over the next three years, to 500 million. This vast market has inspired interest from other telecoms, including Nokia and Motorola. And Spice anticipates even further price drops, with a $10 model in the works.

Indian film actress Priyanka chopra (C) Kunal Ahuja CEO Spice Mobile Limited (R) and and Dilip Modi vice chairman during a launch of the Spice dual mode phone in New Delhi, 01 August 2007. Spice's new People's Phone will sell for £10 ($20) and could conceivably go as low as...
Indian film actress Priyanka chopra (C) Kunal Ahuja CEO Spice Mobile Limited (R) and and Dilip Modi vice chairman during a launch of the Spice dual mode phone in New Delhi, 01 August 2007. Spice's new...   (Getty Images)
Indian film actress and brand ambassador of Spice Mobile Priyanka Chopra holds a newly launched Spice dual mode phone during an event in New Delhi, 01 August 2007. Spice Mobile Limited (SML) has launched an affordable new phone designed for the average citizen of India, nicknamed The People's Phone. (TAUSEEF...
Indian film actress and brand ambassador of Spice Mobile Priyanka Chopra holds a newly launched Spice dual mode phone during an event in New Delhi, 01 August 2007. Spice Mobile Limited (SML) has launched...   (Getty Images)
Indian film actress and brand ambassador of Spice Mobile Priyanka Chopra holds a newly launched Spice dual mode phone during an event in New Delhi, 01 August 2007. The latest release from Spice is being called The People's Phone, and sells for a modest £10 ($20). (TAUSEEF MUSTAFA/AFP/Getty Images)
Indian film actress and brand ambassador of Spice Mobile Priyanka Chopra holds a newly launched Spice dual mode phone during an event in New Delhi, 01 August 2007. The latest release from Spice is being...   (Getty Images)
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India • cell phones • Nokia • Motorola • Vodafone • Virgin Mobile • Spice Mobile • Asian cell phone market • 'people's phone'

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