Telenor, the Norway based telcom company that operates mobile services under the Uninor brand in India has announced that it will bring operator billing and India-Centric mobile apps on the Android Market to Indian users in 2012.
Telenor and Google launched a global agreement to stimulate further growth of the Android ecosystem.
Uninor's Android smartphone users will be able to access a carefully selected and continuously updated suite of local relevant apps inside a fixed destination on the front page of Android Market, in a store-in-store concept.
After the launch of above service, Telenor / Uninor customers can also pay for apps via Operator billing system, considered crucial in driving app adoption. Local developers benefit by the increased exposure of their apps and the potential of increased revenues.
An editorial team in each market will be responsible for selecting and presenting up to 50 apps with high local relevance. Operator billing makes it easy for Uninor / Telenor's Android users to pay for apps, via prepaid or postpaid subscriptions, and enables developers to more easily monetize on their products. Industry data shows that, given the option of paying via credit card or operator billing, approximately 70% prefer the latter.
The agreement between Google and Telenor covers its 11 international markets, with initial launch in the first quarter 2012 in Thailand, Malaysia, Hungary, Sweden and Denmark. While remaining global markets (India, Bangladesh, Serbia, Montenegro and Norway) will be able to enjoy the upgraded Android experience later in 2012.
