Aircel offers the iPhone 3GS at Rs. 9,999 with Rs. 3,000 advance rental

Aircel has dramatically slashed the prices of the Apple iPhone 3GS, selling it for Rs. 9,999. So far, Airtel, the only other operator in India to sell the iPhone, has not announced a similar cut – and is still retailing for Rs. 20,908. The special Rs. 9,999 price is only for customers already possessing an Aircel postpaid connection, or for those customers willing to buy one. iPhone 3GS customers will also have to pay an advance rental, costing them Rs. 3,000, which would provide unlimited 3G data for a year (2GB FUP per month, post which speeds drop to 128Kbps).

In 2G circles, customers who avail of the Rs. 3,000 advance rental plan will get 2,500 local or national SMSes free, 100 minutes of local or STD calls free, and unlimited 2G data for 6 months.

The new Aircel offer, which brings the iPhone 3GS to customers for roughly Rs. 12,999 with some free data, should prove popular, and essentially provides customers a 8GB smartphone with access to the Apple App Store ecosystem and some features of the iOS 6 upgrade, at the price of an iPod touch.

Not a bad deal if you are looking for a smartphone in sub-Rs. 10,000 category, quite standing up to the variety of budget Android phones in the market. We can expect a similar announcement from Airtel soon.