An expected order of six million low-cost handsets will be shipped from next month to operators in emerging markets.
Stephen Nolan, Motorola`s country manager for sub-Saharan Africa, said at the GSM Africa conference in Cape Town this week that the handsets will be shipped from January to the 10 participating operators in emerging markets. The operators include AIS, Bharti, BPL, Globe Telecom, Hutchison Essar, IDEA Cellular, MTN, Orascom Telecom, Telenor and Vodacom.
Ben Soppitt, strategy director for the GSM Association, said at the conference that he led a project to help address the cellphone needs of the lowest part of the market.
The second round of tenders was awarded in September to Motorola, which was also selected for the first tender last year.
The sub-$40 handsets were made possible by using "a combination of precise forecasting and supply chain efficiency", said David Taylor, Motorola`s director of strategic operations for high-growth markets.
Motorola said it was able to get a massive economy of scale with its suppliers and drive the price down. It also required greater efficiencies in both manufacturing and distribution. "That improvement in our supply chain allows us to get that benefit which we can pass on to our users," said Taylor.
Motorola`s C113 and C113a models were specifically designed for the programme, with the latter providing up to 28 days of standby time, to reduce the need for frequent recharging.
The lantern was another feature that was included in these phones, said Nolan. Much like most urbanites use their cellphone screens as a torch, this setting on the Motorola mobiles gives off a low-energy glow to light up small areas in Africa`s dark, often electricity-less rural regions.
"It is a nice piece of technology that`s got a useful application," said Nolan. "It has a zero add-on cost, and stays on at slightly less intensity than the usual screen brightness to conserve battery power."
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