Airtel vs Jio in cheap 4G phone: Voice-data bundling coup waiting to happen

A model like Bharti Airtel-Karbonn partnering to bring 4G smartphones at a low cost should have come about a long time ago

One should not call it the first step, but the partnership between Bharti Airtel and Karbonn Mobiles to bring 4G smartphones at a low cost is something that should have happened a long time ago. 

Voice is absurdly cheap to carry over a 4G network where the play is on data. Airtel and Vodafone’s key competitor Reliance Jio has realised and played on this synergy right from the time it entered the market, in September 2016, offering voice services free to win customers. Airtel is now offering the same play on data with a hardware manufacturer. It should have been