MTN Unveils Cheap 3G Feature Phone Running on KaiOS

Do you still remember MTN Sm@rt S620 and Sm@rt S720i  which was launched sometimes in 2014? We don’t know what happen to those devices but MTN is planning to take Africa by storm with the next 3G feature phone.

MTN has announced a partnership with China Mobile, chipmaker Unisoc, and software developer KaiOS to launch a 3G “smart feature phone” for Africa.

feature phone
3G smart feature phone.

The new 3G smart feature phone will include rear and front-facing cameras, and key Google applications which run on KaiOS. These include Search, Maps, Assistant, and YouTube.

The device will also feature a 2000mAh battery, offering up to two weeks of standby time and 2-5 days of life under average usage.

MTN plans to launch the device in the first quarter of 2019 across nearly all its markets in Africa.

No brand name has been decided for the device yet. Speaking at AfricaCom, MTN CEO Rob Shuter joked that he is addicted to acronyms, so he looked at the names of the companies — MTN, Unisoc, China Mobile, and KaiOS — for inspiration.

“All I came up with was MUCH, which won’t win any marketing awards,” Shuter said.

MTN aims to sell 10 million devices over the next three years, bringing many new subscribers into the MTN fold in the process.

MTN believed that a large proportion of subscribers still use 3G network in Africa despite 4G penetration. Nigeria, Ghana and South Africa will be few of the countries where MTN will roll out the device.

Pricing?

The phone will be brought in at a cost of $20 (N7200) said MTN.

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23 thoughts on “MTN Unveils Cheap 3G Feature Phone Running on KaiOS”

  1. would it be better than Nokia’s already existing feature phones? if not, abeg they should not bother saturating the market with feature phones

  2. Sir Yomi please I have to make this complaint here as I find no specific topic…
    My Samsung s6 imei got corrupted showing me 350000000000036 and my network I unlock a month ago got locked again … please what do I do… the guy that unlocked it the first time said he can’t open it after trying

    • The first unlocking did on the phone is not by code, the person use software thats why the phone lock again, maybe you flash the phone or do fresh update.
      Next time try and go for code unlocking

  3. My Samsung s6 imei got corrupted showing me 350000000000036 and my network I unlock a month ago got locked again … please what do I do… the guy that unlocked it the first time said he can’t open it after trying

  4. 3g on which platform? Looks like ordinary China cell phone. There are So many of them in the market, from 5k to 7k. Would make sense if it’s android. like ntel phone.

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