Nokia X buyers to get 500MB of free 3G data per month from Airtel

Customers in non-3G circles can enjoy the same benefit on 2G data, the handset maker said in a statement.

Last month, Nokia had launched its Nokia X Dual SIM (Review I Pictures) smartphone in India for Rs. 8,599, which is aimed at protecting its turf in the fiercely competitive Indian smartphone market.

"This reinforces Nokia's commitment towards working with our partners within the ecosystem to deliver the best user experiences," Nokia India Director Marketing Viral Oza said.

Post the exhaustion of 500MB of data, users will be charged 3 paise per 10KB in 3G circles, and 10 paise per 10KB in 2G circles. The offer would be available only on the first SIM inserted in a new Nokia X device by existing or new Airtel customers. The offer is valid on new devices bought until June 30, 2014.

"India is witnessing a tremendous growth in smartphone adoption. This offer will enable customers to make the most of their new Nokia X device," Bharti Airtel CEO (Data and Devices) Kartik Sheth said.

Nokia had announced the launch of 'Nokia X' family of affordable smartphones, which runs Google's Android apps, at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February this year.

The company had said then that Nokia X+ is expected to be priced at EUR 99 (about Rs. 8,400), Nokia XL at EUR 109 (about Rs. 9,200) and Nokia X at EUR 89 (about Rs. 7,500).

Nokia had said it will bring the other two devices X+ and XL in the Indian market by May.

India is the third largest market for smartphones. IDC data showed that smartphone sales in the country surpassed 44 million units in 2013, up from 16.2 million in 2012.

The surge has been mainly powered by domestic vendors like Micromax, Karbonn and Lava, which offer smartphones for as low as Rs. 3,000.

Also, IDC attributed the migration of users from feature phones to smartphones primarily due to the narrowing price gaps between these product categories.

The dual-SIM Nokia X is a 4-inch device, powered by a 1GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. It features a tile-based design, 512MB RAM (up to 32GB expandable memory), 3MP camera and 1500mAh battery.

The Nokia X is based on the Android Open Source Project platform. While Nokia X users will not have access to Google's app market

'Google Play', they can sideload Android apps from third party app stores as well as Nokia Store.