Samsung App Store Now Offering Operator Billing in India

By Prarthito

| Published: Saturday, May 17, 2014, 16:27 [IST]

Claiming itself as the first OEM to provide operator billing system for an Android-based app store, Samsung has announced partnerships with telecom operators Vodafone and Aircel to provide operator billing services via its app store.

The new plan, available for both prepaid and postpaid customers, will now allow users to make payments for any app on the app store via the operator billing system. The service is already available for users, starting May 1.

Samsung App Store Now Offering Operator Billing in India

Speaking on the tie-up, Mr. Tarun Malik, Director of Media Solutions Center-South West Asia, Samsung Electronics, says, "This exclusive tie-up on Samsung App store further showcases our commitment to providing the best service experience to our customers."

"Given the poor credit card penetration in the country, we are positive that this move will be welcomed by customers. It is another step forward to expand our engagement with the publisher and developer community by enhancing adoption as well as monetization from the store."

Apart from offering the service for apps and games, Samsung is also pushing the service for the recently announced Kindle book service built specifically for Samsung. As of now, the app has already been introduced in India along with existing Samsung Galaxy smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0.

As part of this service, Samsung and Amazon will now launch Samsung Book Deals for all customers using Kindle for Samsung. Commenting on their partnership with Samsung, Mr. Vivek Mathur, Chief Operating Officer, Vodafone India says, "With the growth of smartphones and mobile internet, people are increasingly showing more interest in mobile apps and content services."

"This partnership will provide Vodafone customers ready access to the Samsung App Store with the convenience of operator billing. The limited penetration of credit cards makes this service a huge convenience for customers who can now use their Vodafone account to purchase apps and content."