Idea Cellular expects to sell one lakh handsets of its newly launched ‘Idea Aurus’ 3G phone in the next three to four months. The telecom company launched Aurus, its fourth 3G phone on Monday. Idea Aurus is a dual-SIM Android phone manufactured by Alcatel. The phone has other features such as a video-calling facility, 3.5-inch multi-touch screen display, and cloud backup functionality. The phone costs Rs 7,190. Idea’s other 3G devices are Idea Blade, ID 918 and ID 280.
The company said it has sold about one lakh ID 918 handsets since the launch. Idea has been targeting its existing 2G users to upgrade to 3G with its range of smartphones. Idea has seen good demand for its 3G smartphones in semi-urban and rural markets of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, and it has already sold more than 1.5 lakh handsets. Idea has a 3G subscriber base of about 4 million.
Following the 25 per cent hike of tariffs by Reliance Communications recently, there is speculation that other operators also plan to raise tariffs. However, officials said Idea Cellular has no plans to revise tariffs at present.