India’s Reliance to develop new smartphone with Google in $25 bln 5G push

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NEW DELHI, Aug 30(ABC): India’s telecom leader Reliance said on Monday it is working with Alphabet Inc’s Google to launch a budget 5G smartphone as it laid out a $25 billion plan for introducing the next-generation wireless services within two months.

Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting, Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani said Jio’s 5G network will be the world’s largest, launching in main cities including New Delhi and Mumbai before being expanded across India by December next year.

Ambani, one of India’s richest men, said only that the phone being developed with Google would be “ultra-affordable”. The cheapest 5G phones retail for around $150 currently in India, where around 700 million people don’t have a smartphone.