LG Electronics wins contest for low-cost 3G phone contract

Mumbai: LG Electronics has won a contest organised by the GSM Association to produce a low-cost handset for third generation (3G) mobile phone networks.

The winner of the contest, which is expected to receive orders for several millions of these handsets by as much as a dozen mobile carriers, will officially be announced next week at the 3GSM mobile communications trade show in Barcelona.

The new handset will cost around $100 (Approximately Rs4,500) breaking through the price barrier, which makes current 3G phones expensive. The high price has affected sales and the slow sales have held back usage of 3G network services, such as mobile internet, email and video. 3GSM operators who participated in the selection of the winning handset included Cingular, Globe Telecom, Hutchison 3G, KTF, MTN, Orange, Smart, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor, T-Mobile and Vodafone. These operators together have 620 million subscribers, according to an earlier statement issued by the GSM Association.

The handset will be available to all members of the GSMA, which is most of the carriers around the world.

LG is the world's No. 5 mobile phone maker after Nokia, Motorola Inc, Samsung Electronics and Sony Ericsson.

LG, which has so far been focusing on premium models, is trying to regain its share in the global market after a sluggish year in 2006. Neither LG Electronics nor GSMA sources declined to comment.

Motorla had won both the earlier handset contests initiated by the GSMA. The Motorola phones set new benchmarks for entry-level phones to less than $30.

Chinese telecoms equipment maker Huawei currently offers one of the cheapest 3G phones for 72 pounds ($140.9) in Britain, including an operator subsidy.