ine years back, BPL Mobile became one of the first GSM service operators in the country. Now, the Rs 135-crore BPL Telecom has started manufacturing GSM mobile phones in India, making BPL the only brand with a presence both on the service side and in the production of mobile phones. The BPL handsets will compete with the likes of Nokia, Motorola, Sony-Ericsson and Siemens for a pie of the Rs 8,344-crore (2003-04) mobile handsets market in India.

BPL�s first range of mobile phones has five models - Slim-0288, Elegant-0378, Aristo-fd 8820, Aristo-rc 8352 and Aristo-fc 0657 - priced between Rs 4,600 and Rs 13,400. Slim-0288, claims the company, is the slimmest phone (11.9 mm with a flip cover) ever introduced in the country and is the cheapest in BPL�s range. ... more