The Hindu Business Line : Now, a limited-use mobile phone

After the no-frills airlines, here is an inexpensive no-frills second cell phone, which is being patented now, for less than Rs 700. BSNL officials have taken notice and multinational companies and their Indian counterparts are evincing interest for its commercial production.

Mobile phones work mainly on two technologies, - code division multiple access (CDMA), which requires no SIM card - and GSM, in which any SIM card can be used. The new invention is an extension of the CDMA phone but, if and when the user switches to GSM, a SIM card can be integrated into the new device, says its inventor. A user having an existing cell phone on normal CDMA technology can offer its extension to others for limited use , says its inventor, Mr Pradyumna Vyas, Principal Designer at the National Institute of Design (NID), who sees a huge potential for it.

The device has no SMS or MMS facility , no games or camera, not even display screen and, of course, no SIM card! And its bill is added to the existing mobile phone bill. But, the user would have to network the device with the existing phone through the service provider only, as in the case of the twin-phone facility provided against a single bill payment by some providers who merely change the second digit on the 10-digit number to identify the new phone.

About the size of an ordinary mobile phone battery, 80 mm x 35 mm x 15 mm, the new device can be used only for up to six outgoing or incoming calls on pre-determined numbers. . The gadget would have six keys with vibratory as well as audible ringtone modes, so that even visually challenged people can operate this instrument. . Even when the user is abroad, he can stay in touch without having to pay roaming charges for unwelcome calls. He would only have to pay roaming charges for calls on the pre-determined numbers.

Confirming that commercial production was being discussed, Mr Vyas told Business Line that he has already filed for the patent. . He, however, declined to identify the interested MNCs and Indian companies, saying the talks were at a "preliminary stage."

"Even otherwise, cell-phone companies have found that 80 per cent of people using mobile phones actually use only 20 per cent of the features of their gadget," said Mr Vyas, who took a year to develop the device. Why, then, waste your money on a feature-rich product anyway, he asked, adding, "A school kid can dial only the parents or school. An elderly person can use it to contact their children or the doctor."

The limited-use mobile phone would be useful not only for children and the elderly and the physically challenged but also for defence establishments, transporters, vehicle drivers, nurses, domestic help and others. The device ensures that only urgently required numbers can be called immediately by pressing two buttons. Moreover, the device is virtually theft-proof.

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