Akash Ambani’s Jio may soon launch India’s cheapest 5G phone, likely to be priced under Rs…

Akash Ambani’s Reliance Jio has revolutionised the telecom sector in India. Over the past few years, Reliance Jio has launched a range of affordable products and plans for the masses. Akash Ambani led Reliance Jio is now gearing up to launch one of the cheapest 5G smartphones in India in partnership with Qualcomm. A report by Telecom Talk citing Moneycontrol suggests that Reliance Jio and Qualcomm may launch a 5G phone under Rs 8000 by the end of this year. The new device may help 250 million 2G and 3G users in India to migrate to 4G and 5G.

Reliance Jio’s affordable 5G smartphone rumours have been floating on the internet for quite a long time now. Over the past few months, several leaks related to the Jio 5G phone have surfaced online but the statement to Moneycontrol from Chris Patrick, SVP and General Manager of Handsets at Qualcomm suggests that we may see the device soon.

“With the new chipset, we are looking to give a full 5G experience to consumers looking for affordable smartphones. The product is inspired by India… we're focusing pretty heavily on the transition between 4G and 5G. So, for us, it's how do we make sure that the transition is as frictionless as possible and that we have products really optimised for handset developers, telcos and end consumers.” said Chris Patrick, SVP and General Manager of Handsets at Qualcomm.

“Our local team leads almost most of our global products, especially teams in Hyderabad and Bengaluru. The scale we have in the handset business is massive." he further added.

It is worth noting that this is not the first time Jio is partnering with a global tech giant for an affordable phone. Akash Ambani’s Jio also partnered with Google for an affordable 4G device which failed to get much attention from the people. However, a different result is expected from the upcoming 5G phone.