The deal allows customers to pay for both content services and applications via their phone bill, and Samsung will be the first OEM to be integrated directly within Telefónica’s billing payment capabilities.
Under the terms of the framework, Samsung customers will be able to purchase apps, music, books and other content services, while charging the payment to their phone bill or prepaid credit through Telefónica’s BlueVia payment services.
The agreement will cover Samsung tables and smartphones, and the ease of payments for additional services is thought to be increasing the sales of digital content on the devices.
Telefónica said it is committed to making operator billing available for as many customers across as many different devices as possible, and its agreement with Samsung follows similar deals struck with Google, Microsoft and Facebook.
“We strongly believe that carrier billing has the potential to drive the monetisation of digital content,” said Wayne Thorsen, VP of Global Partnerships at Telefónica Digital. “Partnerships like this allow us to harness the power of the billing relationships we have with our customers to make it easier for them to consume content on their tablets and mobile devices.”
Direct billing on Samsung devices will be rolled out to Telefónica’s business in phases, and it is expected to start with Telefónica Germany in the coming months.
