The Hindu Business Line : BPL Telecom forays into handset market

BPL Telecom, on Monday, announced its foray into the mobile handset manufacturing market with the launch of five handsets and said it aims to generate Rs 50 crore revenue from the new venture, this fiscal.

Mr P.M. Jayakrishnan, BPL Telecom Director (Sales), said ``Though the five models launched today are outsourced from Korea, we will roll-out the first GSM-based cell phone, manufactured in India in the next 20 days.''

Targeting to capture 15 per cent share of the cellular handset market by the next financial year, the company has invested Rs 22 crore in setting up a handset manufacturing facility in Bangalore. ``The centre in Bangalore, which employs over 200 engineers, contributed to the hardware as well as software design of these phones,'' Mr Jayakrishnan said.

The BPL handsets, priced between Rs 3,900 and Rs 11,600, has all the features available in other low and middle segment phones from companies such as Nokia and Motorola.

Mr Jayakrishnan said the model Slim 0288, priced at Rs 3,900, is the thinnest in India with 11.9 mm thickness. ``Another five models are under development for launch in April. We are hopeful of rolling out 20 to 25 models in the next fiscal."

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