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SingTel Group and Samsung to Promote Mobile Data Growth in Emerging Markets

By Sidney Wong - on 11 Apr 2014, 2:45pm

SingTel Group and Samsung to Promote Mobile Data Growth in Emerging Markets

The SingTel Group and Samsung unveiled four joint initiatives to accelerate mobile data growth across the region. 

The SingTel Group and Samsung today announced a landmark partnership which sees both companies pushing out four joint initiatives to promote mobile data growth in emerging markets across the region. The four initiatives include retail collaboration programme, direct carrier billing with Samsung Apps, mobile app development programme and direct access to apps.

The retail collaboration programme aims to simplify the customer retail experience in countries such as India where customers typically have to purchase the phones from the distributors and then sign up for the mobile plans from the operators. However, this will change as customers can buy the phone and sign up for the SIM card at the same plane. At the moment, this initiative is available to customers of Globe Telecom (Philippines) and will be progressively rolled out to Airtel in India and Telkomsel in Indonesia.

Direct carrier billing for app purchases is especially beneficial for consumers in emerging markets such as Indonesia where credit cards are not widely used. With the new initiative, customers can soon buy apps and content from Samsung Apps by charging the payment to their phone bills or deducting from their prepaid account balances.

For Singapore, SingTel will be the first in South East Asia to offer direct carrier billing for Samsung Apps. It is noteworthy to mention that the telco is also the first to offer direct carrier billing for Google Play and Windows Phone Store purchases. This will also be made available to customers of AIS (Thailand), Globe Telecom (Philippines) and Telkomsel (Indonesia).

Members of the SingTel Group and Samsung are collaborating to give the app ecosystem a boost. Its sponsorship programme will identify innovative start-ups in the region and help them accelerate their development and gain access to the user base of over 500 million customers. Selected developers will have the opportunity to have their apps marketed by SingTel (Singapore), Optus (Australia), AIS (Thailand), Globe Telecom (Philippines), and Telkomsel (Indonesia) in their respective markets. 

Samsung together with SingTel Group Digital L!fe aim to deliver mobile services to consumers by giving them access to selected services directly on their phones without having the need to download them. The apps are carefully customized to reflect the local requirements and content. This arrangement will be available to customers of AIS (Thailand), Globe Telecom (Philippines), and Telkomsel (Indonesia) starting with the Samsung Galaxy S5. 

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