MTN announces KaiOS feature phone for South Africa

MTN, along with telecoms giant China Mobile and semiconductor firm UNISOC has announced its first “smart feature phone” that runs on KaiOS.

KaiOS, which was borne as a fork of Firefox OS, gives users the basic functionalities of a smartphone, like apps and Google services, without the price premium.

“As MTN we are proud to be part of this partnership that supports our ambitions to deepen digital inclusion in our markets,” said Rob Shuter, MTN’s president and CEO.

“This initiative contributes to the achievement of one of our key goals to provide affordable data enabled handsets to our customers, and by so doing, remove some of the barriers to mobile internet adoption in Africa.”

The device in question, which hasn’t yet been named, will feature a UNISOC chipset with 256MB of RAM, 512MB of storage, a 2.4 inch screen, and a 2000mAh battery.

WiFi, 3G, and Bluetooth radios also feature, while GPS support, and Google Assistant are also supported.

It will also feature two cameras — it’s not clear if that’s a selfie camera and a primary camera, or two rear cameras — and a 2000mAh battery.

It’s set to lump dual SIM support in with the package too.

The device is set to retail between between R280 and R400 in the first quarter of 2019 in South Africa and Nigeria.

Feature image: MTN