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To: foundation who wrote (30300)	12/22/2002 6:09:52 PM
From: foundation	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 196602

Reliance mobiles to carry company logo PRAGATI VERMA TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2002 03:02:55 AM ] NEW DELHI: In a first-ever co-branding of mobile phones in India, Reliance will put its company logo on the mobile phones being sold to its subscribers. While Reliance and LG have already agreed to put both the company logos on the mobile handsets, Reliance Infocomm is believed to be in talks with other mobile phone manufacturers for similar deals. While none of the cellular operators like Bharti and Hutchison offer co-branded handsets, even the other major CDMA (technology being offered by Reliance too) player, Tata Teleservices, does not have any immediate plans to offer co-branded mobile phones. LG, which has recently launched three new handsets in India, has agreed to add Reliance’s name to its handsets only after it got a huge long-term contract from Reliance, according to sources. Co-branding of handsets is common in other countries with CDMA mobile phones but Reliance seems to be the only telecom service provider in India to have shown interest. Also chosen as the major CDMA terminal supplier for Reliance Infocomm, LG offers similar co-branding deals to Sprint and Horizon in the US and South Korea Telecom, LG Telecom and Korea Telecom FreeTel. “Co-branding makes sense only if we are guaranteed substantially big order and a long-term relationship,’’ says sources in LG. The customer confidence in the service improves, if the handsets have manufacturer as well as service provider’s brands, according to a survey by LG. To be launched this month itself, Reliance mobile phone service is believed to bundle handsets price along with rentals and tariffs. Similar bundling strategy has been used by China Unicom with some success. Not only will the handset prices be bundled with the service, but it is also believed to have worked out consumer financing of the upfront payment too. Reliance Capital has already passed a board resolution enabling the company to enter the business of dealing and financing the handsets. The offer is expected to be sweetened with the offer of a handset exchange scheme for GSM users. In all, Reliance has acquired license 17 circles in India and is scheduled to launch its services on December 28, beginning with Gujarat. The company is awaiting the approval of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for its tariff structure. economictimes.indiatimes.com