Airtel launches pan-Africa customised 3G smartphone for $53

The device is available in Seychelles, Uganda and Burkina Faso markets with 14 other Airtel Operating Countries expected to launch over next few weeks

Country's largest telecom player Bharti Airtel has launched its first pan-Africa customised 3G smartphone for $53, aiming to tap mobile data users.

"As Airtel, we are focused on migrating, existing and new customers from the traditional feature phones to android smartphones to take advantage of Airtel's 3G networks. We anticipate high uptake levels within the first six months of operations," Airtel Africa CEO Christian de Faria said in a statement.

The Android KitKat platform bases phone has a memory of 4GB ROM, 512 MB RAM with 32 GB external memory capacity, a 1300mAh battery life, front and rear 3 mega pixel camera and a qualcomm dual core Central Processing Unit (CPU).

The device will be sold at $53 subject to various governments levies and available at local retail outlets, the statement added.

It is available in Seychelles, Uganda and Burkina Faso markets with 14 other Airtel Operating Countries expected to launch the mobile devices over the next few weeks.

The company is driving the new smartphone campaign to help accelerate data adoption in Sub-Saharan Africa, currently witnessing one of the strongest increases in mobile data use in the world, the statement said.

Experts suggest that mobile internet traffic across Africa will double between 2014 and 2015, and will see a 20-fold increase by the end of the decade, it added. Airtel currently has the widest 3G network in Africa, with a presence across 17 markets.