The mobile industry has driven the wholesale cost of mobile phones to below US$ 30 as part of the GSM Association (GSMA) programme to make mobile telephony affordable for people in developing countries. This marks the second phase of the programme to "connect the unconnected" and GSMA expects to order six million of these low-cost handsets from Motorola.

With its compact design and easy-to-use keypad, the C118 is a versatile handset that provides impressive talk times of up to 450 minutes and up to 350 hours of standby, reducing the need for frequent recharging. The phone features selectable ringtones, short message service (SMS), alarm clock, screensavers, and games making the Motorola C118 a practical and affordable mobile phone for everyday use.