Bangladeshi mobile operator Garmeenphone has launched a sub-$60 smartphone powered by Mozilla's Firefox OS.
While this is not the first time Firefox OS smartphones have come to Asia – Indian handset vendor Intex launched the $33 Cloud FX last month – Grameenphone said it is the first release of a Mozilla smartphone by an Asian mobile operator.
The GoFox F15 has been developed by Bangladeshi handset distributor Symphony. It has a 3.5-inch display, 1GHz processor, 512 MB of RAM and the same volume of storage. It runs on Firefox OS version 1.4.
Grameenphone is bundling the service with a promotional free data package WowBox. Users will be able to visit the phone's mobile marketplace and be granted 20 MB of free data per day.
“We want more customers to experience mobile services on smartphones. By stimulating the Mozilla developer community to create more locally relevant apps coupled with Telenor’s WowBox service, we expect to see increase internet uptake and usage in Bangladesh,”Grameenphone CEO Vivek Sood said.
Grameenphone's Norway-headquartered parent company Telenor has been an active participant in the Firefox OS development project since 2012.
The launch could potentially pave the way towards Telenor introducing Firefox OS smartphones in more of its operating markets, such as Myanmar, India or Pakistan.