Airtel, Idea plunge on RIL’s JioPhone announcement

Mumbai, July 21 (IANS) Stocks of telecom operators Bharti Airtel and Idea Cellular tumbled after industrialist Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries (RIL) on Friday announced the launch of the JioPhone ‘intelligent smartphone’.

Around 1.15 p.m., the scrip of telecom major Bharti Airtel fell by 3.22 per cent to Rs 406.25 on the BSE.

Similarly, shares of Idea Cellular dipped by 6.69 per cent to Rs 88.50.

Meanwhile, RIL stocks rose by 2.70 per cent to Rs 1,570.

RIL, at its 40th annual general meeting on Friday, announced the launch of JioPhone, which will be available for beta testing from August 15. "The JioPhone will be available to all Indians for an effective price of Rs Zero," Ambani said in his address.

The benchmark indiecs — the NSE Nifty and the BSE Sensex — too, fell as investors booked profits. The Nifty fell by 21.20 points, or 0.21 per cent to 9,852.10 points, while the Sensex traded at 31,854.78 points — down 49.62 points or 0.16 per cent.