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A LITTLE-KNOWN INDIAN company will today launch a smartphone believed to be the cheapest in the world, targeting a market already dominated by low-cost handsets.
Set to be priced at under 500 rupees (€6.56), domestic handset maker Ringing Bells’ Freedom 251 smartphone is about 1% of the price of the latest Apple iPhone.
Ringing Bells was set up in September 2015 and began selling mobile phones via its website a few weeks ago under its Bell brand, a spokeswoman said.
“This is our flagship model and we think it will bring a revolution in the industry,” she told AFP.
Ringing Bells currently imports parts from overseas and assembles them in India but plans to make its phones domestically within a year, the spokeswoman said.
Cheap smartphone handsets, many of them Chinese-made, are readily available in the Indian market but domestic competitors are making inroads, with models selling for less than €20.
India is the world’s second-largest mobile market and notched up its billionth mobile phone subscriber in October, according to the country’s telecoms regulator.
But in poorer Indian states such as Bihar, “teledensity” – the penetration of telephone connections for every hundred people – is as low as 54%, with a stark urban-rural divide.
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This is a full blown social crisis now and people should be out on the streets. This is far more serious that water charges. You might say why should I care if you’re not renting but if people can’t afford to live in a city then you can kiss goodbye to your favourite pubs, restaurants and pretty much anything that requires workers that aren’t on 100k a year. If it continues Dublin will go into a steep decline.
@The Guru: yeah that happened already in all the cities in the world. Did London and New York suddenly have nobody working in shops, pubs, restaurants etc… We are behind many countries not reaching some point of apocalypse just a change to be like many other cities. Things have permanently changed and for things to go back we will be in huge financial trouble.
@Craic_a_tower: no it did not happen in “all cities in the world”. London and New York should not be used to compare to Dublin but even they haven’t had anything near the rental crisis that Ireland has had.
@Craic_a_tower: wrong.
@Craic_a_tower:
There is affordable housing in New York & London, outside the center city. I live in London now, so do many friends of mine. The average rent in New York is much higher, same with London, but that’s due to the super-expensive billionaire properties in trendy areas. If you go a bit further out to commuter towns it’s dirt cheap compared to Dublin commuter towns. Comparing averages is misleading.
Aside from that, wages in London & New York can get incredibly high. If you’re a skilled professional, you end up much wealthier in London or New York, with much more money left afer paying rent compared to Dublin. That’s before we even get started on taxes.
London & New York are massive global cities with things attracting people. Like if you want to take up some niche hobby like Jiu-Jutsu you’ve got the best trainers & competitors in the world nearby. Dublin is just bog standard Dublin.
Boomers in Ireland tell us to look at London or New York, and the truth is that young Irish people are better off emigrating.
Emigrating away from Dublin was the best decision I ever made, and I urge all young people to do the same. Things really are better on the other side.
@David Bourke: I lived in both places. The claim was shops and pubs would close without workers. It won’t happen and I just gave examples of places that kept workers and shops. They commute and that is what you are saying happens in London so agreeing with me. I personally don’t like London but glad you are happy there. Historical reasons for cheap rent in council property in London. New York rent control doesn’t work and people live in properties that would be illegal here. Paris is the same as is Rome. Dublin is the capitol or a pretty well off country whether you see it or not. Lots of ex pats sneer at Ireland but put up with stuff in another country that they wouldn’t put up with here. Have you stopped noticing the homeless issue in London? Worse than here by a long stretch.
@Craic_a_tower: London and New York have slightly better public transport links I think you’ll agree? It’s possible in those cities to commute a reasonably long distance and work in the city. Generally it’s young people who are also there for the buzz of the place. Take a person working in a bar in Dublin. Their options are live in the city and pay nearly all of their wage to a landlord or move to a “commuter” town which will still take them an hour and a half to get into work and good luck getting back after your shift at 1am. Let’s look at Maynooth for example. On Daft there are currently 3, yes 3 properties for rent in the entire town. Not sure many young people around the world will be jumping at that opportunity.
@The Guru: yes better public transport built a long time ago. I actually worked in a bar in Dublin City centre for a couple of years in my youth. The bar paid for taxis home in 1990s. People lived out in tallagh and Swords etc…So no they don’t have to live in the city centre. I am just pointing out there is no magical breaking point where retail, restaurants, and bars can’t get staff. It is proven time and time again as cities develop. We are playing catch up not facing an apocalypse. It will be unpleasant for some but overall it is better for the country. I remember my 1.5 hour underground journey each way to work and it was not pleasant nor cheap. Rent was still expensive and substandard. Personally I find London very racist, divided and generally hostile. Dublin is a lot more pleasant.
So the 4% cap isn’t enforced then I take it. Varadkar and his “rent freeze in real terms”, full of it
@Rob Gale: This rise is due to new builds and first let, by what an analyst said on radio. I read that many of the institutional buyers sit on property empty, I dont know if the latter is true or not however.
@Pete Brady: Given the lack of new builds and first let on the market, I seriously doubt that. They might be listed as such on paper following “refurbishment” or some other token loophole but for the math to add up, the tiny amount of brand new supply would have to be priced at way over market to account for the gap between the 4% and 11% marks.
@Rob Gale: It’s worth noting that the figures here are the average of the units that were on the market during the 3 months compared to the previous 3 months. It is not saying it is the average of all rents. In essence the units that are available now, which are mainly new builds are more expensive but not all other rents have increased. Daft don’t have a record of all rents, just what is listed with them during that period.
@Brendan Gordon: see my comment below Brendan
I saw on twitter yesterday that a prospective tenant on €84,000 a year was refused an apartment in a build to rent development in Dublin because they couldn’t prove that they had €10,000 in savings! To rent! The damn 1 beds in that development are €1,950 a month… For a 1 bedroom apartment.
@Brendan Gordon: lack of new builds? you haven’t been to Wicklow.
FFG legacy
FFFG yer on your last legs now. Remember the labour party? And then ye bring in the nomad Ryan to cause so much controversy .Mary lou has to prosper in the near future folks. These old timers couldn’t care less about us folks. All in it for themselves.
@Paul Gorry: economists warned that introducing rent caps and all sorts of other regulations on the rental market would restrict supply further and drive up rents more. SF would have gone even further down that road.
@Damon16: The only people who drove rents up are the landlords. They take advantage of the lack of supply.
@Fr. Fintan Stack: you have no idea what you’re talking about. I mean that seriously and genuinely. I rent in Dublin and it’s a struggle. I have a vested interested in this not getting worse. Supply vs demand sets prices across any market, not landlords. It’s an intuitive thing to think landlords drive up rents but it’s childishly simplistic – really
@Damon16: Are you really that nieve? Supply V demand creates oppertunities, good or bad. So who makes the choice to put up rent?
@Damon16: yep supply is short, therefore Landlords see a money tree and increase rents to whatever level they want….. wait until this bubble bursts and then the Rent will plummet to obtain tenants. Make hay why you can, because, as sure as eggs is eggs these incredible rent rises cannot be sustained and another Crash is down the line AGAIN….
@Fr. Fintan Stack: it really isn’t that simple. Landlords are leaving the market at a very high rate. If what you are saying was true more landlords would be joining the market. Supply from mom and pop landlords is reducing due to legislation meant to protect rent rates but actually reducing supply. When a property goes from rental to private ownership the occupancy rate drops. So supply is dropping when demand is rising.
This talk of a full rent freeze is actually catastrophic. It is known that rent freezes lead to lower availability of housing (due to lack of investment) and higher rents (due supply vs demand mismatch) over time. This is a known phenomena, massive studies have been done it across the world. Economists warned the RPZ would drive up prices further and lo and behold. The only solution is to build more houses! People glaze over with talk of supply and demand etc it sounds wonky but that is the driver of it all. Much sexier to talk about greedy landlords etc but listening to SF and the like will lead to a an ever worsening situation. Mark my words.
@Damon16: you’ve pretty much described the exact reasons that they’ll bring it in. Literally every FF/FG policy on housing has been under the guise of helping but has actually made it worse and made some people very rich.
@The Guru: Any landlords I hear talking, know SF will be in power soon, so they are selling up as SF have pledged to go after landlords. Why do you think there are hundreds who have already sold up and many more selling. Hence the dwindling supply of properties to rent. Things will only get worse when SF enter government
@Philip Scanlon: total nonsense. Hundreds of landlords sold because they are getting nothing out of renting under 51% tax and maintaining the house for tenants. SF did not caused this , the cause is FFG that drove all the small landlords out of the market and gave the way to institutions cuckoo funds that are bulk buying houses for rent and pay 0% tax.
@John Johnes: no it is the additional charges being added with the restrictions also being added. The additional threats of SF and FF/FG is also making people sell up. They threatened to make it a criminal offence to raise the rent too much while an unconstitutional rent control was brought in. Uncertainty is driving people out. Tax is a factor but not the biggest.
2 grand a month is simply not tenable that’s money been taken from the local economy. The market needs to be flooded with social housing to force drop in rental market right now. The government needs to declare a national emergency with emergency legislation to be called to overrule an board planola we need to also start building both up and out.
Where is the Gaffer for Gaffs?
It’s worth noting that the figures here are the average of the units that were on the market during the 3 months compared to the previous 3 months. It is not saying it is the average of all rents. In essence the units that are available now, which are mainly new builds are more expensive but not all other rents have increased. Daft don’t have a record of all rents, just what is listed with them during that period.
@Thomas Kearns: also worth noting that if as an estate agent we seldom put houses to rent on Daft.ie as we have solid enquiries in our database. It’s amazing that a company loosing market share such as Daft.ie is getting so much publicity by telling everyone that it is loosing market share.
@Thomas Kearns: youve said this a few times in the comments. Are you really trying to convince people that the situation actually isnt as bad as it seems? People are living in the crisis and can feel it, you cant hoodwink experience.
Just want to say that yes we have a housing crises and I really hope work can be done to improve the situation but Dublin isn’t the only city with this crises and Ireland isn’t the only country that has a housing crises either.
@Ciaran:
I’ve lived in Amsterdam, Edinburgh, London in the past few years. All claim to have a housing crisis, but in my experience it’s a cakewalk.
Yes, housing is a problem in all western cities now, but the scale of it is not like Ireland. It is genuinely so much worse here.
@David Bourke: I’ve lived in Auckland, Melbourne, Sydney and London and it doesn’t even begin to compare even though all of them have famously high rents and “crises”. Ireland is the pits, across the board not just in Dublin but in any urban area. Also it’s rich that you have people on here comparing Dublin to New York and London, like, have they ever left Ireland, for real? We’re not some major metropolis, we’re a small town, at best, by global standards, and our rents ARE NOT justified by living in a city.
Housing for all on its way.
@A.l: correct, Housing For All has resulted in the highest 12 month home commencements in a decade
My rent has just gone up 37% and I’m being evicted (selling up). 11% is a load of rubbish.
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