Telenor to bring Android Market operator billing to 11 countries including India

Telenor and Google have partnered to bring operating billing as well as curated apps section to Android Market in eleven countries next year. According to a press release issued today, Thailand, Malaysia, Hungary, Sweden and Denmark will be the first countries to get it in the first quarter of next year, followed by other markets in later 2012.

Google first started giving operator billing (which means that you can add your Android Market app purchase bills to your mobile phone bill, rather than paying via credit card) option to users in US, followed by Japan and recently in Europe. With the Telenor deal, it will be the first major roll-out of operator billing on international level.

Telenor will also be introducing a curated app section featuring locally relevant apps as a tab in Android Market app. This will give more exposure to local developers as well as will be useful for consumers. An editorial team will be responsible for selecting 50 apps for every market.

The roll out with start with Thailand, Malaysia, Hungary, Sweden and Denmark in Q1,2012 followed by India, Bangladesh, Serbia, Montenegro and Norway.

“This deal between Google and Telenor is designed to inject even more energy into the Android ecosystem. Most importantly, it means that millions of Telenor customers will experience easier access to more and richer mobile content, as well as flexible payment solutions,” said Jon Fredrik Baksaas, President & CEO of Telenor Group.

India: Telecom operator Uninor will be responsible for India part being a JV between Telenor and Unitech.