In the newsVodafone India launches VF247 solar mobile phone

27 Jul 2010


Today the UK chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne (seen here with Vodafone Essar CEO Marten Pieters) has done the honours of officially launching the VF247 solar powered handset in the Indian market during a visit to Vodafone Essar in Mumbai.

As part of an official visit of Britain's top government officials to India on a mission to strengthen economic ties, Mr. Osbourne also delivered a speech about his vision for a new economic partnership. He sees this particular handset, that was developed by Vodafone, ZTE, and Intivation, as a great example of the British-Indian partnership:

I’m very pleased to help launch Vodafone’s new solar powered handset. It’s the new UK-India economic partnership in action. The handset will get more people connected, paying less and doing their bit for the environment.

 Marten Pieters, CEO of Vodafone Essar, mentioned:

Reflecting a strong commitment to the Indian market, Vodafone continues to launch affordable products and services to cater to the differentiated needs of consumers. Vodafone’s solar powered phone is launched for people residing in areas where electric supply is unstable, so that consumers can rely on solar charging to remain connected. This launch is likely to enable more people in rural India to go mobile and thus increase penetration from the current 20%. We will continue to invest to uplift the quality of telecom services and products in India.

 More information can be found in the NYTimes, Huffinton Post, Teleguru, Economic Times, and Telecom Talk.

All information about the handset is here.