Branching out from disposable razors and ball-point pens, Bic will be launching a mobile phone in France August 7. The pay-as-you-go phone, which will be sold through a network of major supermarkets and local convenience stores (tobacco shops, newsstands, train stations, airports etc), will be available from August and will come with a pre-paid ‘mobicarte’ refill card. They will sell it from September for around €49 (US$77). The BIC phone will come fitted with a charged battery and a SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card loaded with 10 minutes of prepaid calls from network operator Orange. In order to receive all 60 minutes of free time, clients must identify themselves to Orange service agents.
The phone will come in green or orange, and can be used only for talking, sending and receiving text messages, or listening to FM radio. There is no camera, digital music player or Web browser. It weighs 61 grams and measures 98 millimeters by 44 mm by 12.6 mm.
With a fully charged battery, it can be used for up to 4 hours of calls, or kept in standby mode for 240 hours, Orange said. The phone has a USB (Universal Serial Bus) port through which the battery can be recharged. Neither Orange nor BIC representatives could say whether the necessary cable or charger will be included in the pack, however..
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