New Delhi, March 20 (IANS): Telecom service provider Bharti Airtel has joined hands with handset maker Nokia to provide new Nokia X smartphone across 17 countries in Africa from mid-April this year, a company statement said here Thursday.

Bharti Airtel has operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.

"This is yet another first from Airtel and Nokia. As Africa's largest Internet provider, we are excited that Airtel customers in 17 countries will be amongst the first in the world to enjoy a unique combination of Nokia's stunning design and user experience integrated with a wide range of services.

"In addition, Nokia X will come with data bundles for our customers to access their favourite social sites and chat applications," Andre Beyers, Airtel Africa's chief marketing officer, said.

"Consumers can enjoy their favourite apps and the most popular Microsoft Internet and cloud services, wrapped-up on a smartphone that holds-on the Nokia promise," said Timo Toikkanen, executive vice president, mobile phones, Nokia.