Vodacom South Africa unveiled a cloud-based phone in a bid to equip more subscribers with affordable smartphones and migrate them to modern 4G networks.
The new device leverages cloud computing to enable use of popular apps such as YouTube, TikTok and Facebook, all accessed via the cloud, giving users what Vodacom described as a “smartphone lite” experience.
The smartphone will retail at ZAR249 (US$14), equipped with 48MB RAM, 128MB internal memory, a 2.8-inch screen and 1,000mAh battery.
The operator noted lowering the cost of smartphones is key to increasing access to them, citing a report from the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development in 2022.
According to the Alliance for Affordable Internet a smartphones priced ZAR 1,094.24 (US$62) could cost almost 63% of the average monthly income across Africa.
“At Vodacom, we remain committed to bridging the digital divide by providing affordable devices – which explains why we have introduced this cloud-based model to offer lite smartphone benefits to those who traditionally cannot afford them.
“The cloud phone will also help customers still anchored to 2G phones and not familiar with the touch screen experience, allowing them to appreciate a smooth transition to the data and application world,” said Vodacom South Africa, Managing Executive for Terminals, Davide Tacchino.
“Through greater collaboration between governments, mobile operators and everyone across the value chain, we believe we can make strides to work together to lower 4G-enabled smartphones prices,” Tacchino added.
Speaking to Developing Telecoms, Counterpoint Research Senior Analyst, Yang Wang, noted that 3G smartphones have "all but disappeared from the market" but 4G smartphones prices have been rising in recent years due to the rise in component costs.
"The price tag of below US$14 is attractive enough for the market. Previously we have seen African operators like Orange, MTN and Vodacom itself offering internet capable feature phones at around the US$20 mark, so the lower price tag should be welcome.
"Being able to access popular social media and entertainment sites, likely through an optimized web-app, should also help to drive meaningful user engagement, which obviously helps the operator in driving 4G traffic and revenue," said Wang.
"Internet capable feature phones are not new for most major operators in Africa, as MTN and Orange did offer something similar at a higher price tag a couple of years ago. However I do see this as a new attempt to encourage 4G migration, given the hardware costs in smartphones is trending higher, making it increasingly difficult to expand the customer base.
"Most key operators in Africa have long term capex and infrastructure build out plans that lean heavily on 4G networks, and they will be motivated to see utilisation of new connectivity infrastructure pick up for financial reasons."