Vodafone taps ZTE for ultra low-cost handsets

LONDON - Vodafone has chosen Chinese communications equipment maker ZTE Corporation to make the first handsets the global network operator will use in the second phase of its own-brand strategy for emerging markets.

The handsets are likely to retail at around Euros 19 to 35 ($25-$45) depending on the specific model and the local market conditions. The first countries where the handsets - dubbed the Vodafone 125 and Vodafone 225 - will be available, over the next few weeks, include Romania, Egypt and South Africa, the latter through the operator's Vodacom subsidiary.

The deal follows a global handset manufacturing and procurement venture signed between Vodafone and ZTE in December 2006. The handsets are made to Vodafone's specification to make mobile communications affordable in emerging countries.

The operator has not given details of the specifications or component suppliers, but said the phones are almost identical except the Vodafone 125 has a black and white screen and the Vodafone 225 has a color screen.

Vodafone suggests that in markets such as India or Tanzania the cost of buying a mobile handset can be so expensive as to be prohibitive, so their low-cost phones will help drive mobile penetration, particularly in rural areas and will provide access to mobile services for people in emerging markets that are already taken for granted in Western Europe.

Jens Schulte-Bockum, Vodafone's Global Director of Terminals, said the phones are the first of a range of ultra-low cost handsets which will be manufactured exclusively for Vodafone and its affiliates by ZTE.

"We believe that the Vodafone 125 and Vodafone 225 will help enfranchise millions more people across the world, giving them good quality, attractive handsets, with popular features and functionality, at a reasonable price," said Schulte-Bockum.