Microsoft ties up with Idea

Microsoft and Idea Cellular have tied up to introduce operator billing on the Windows Store for Idea subscribers. This partnership enables Idea users on all Microsoft Lumia devices as well as all Windows-based smartphones across brands to access their favourite premium apps and games from the Windows Store and pay for them through integrated operator billing.  The amount will be either added to their monthly mobile phone bills or deducted from their pre-paid balance, depending on their data plans.

With this announcement, Idea Cellular becomes the first operator in India to offer integrated operator billing on the Windows Store. This facility will make the consumer’s payment experience more seamless and will be a boon for those who do not own credit cards or are uncomfortable using them for online transactions.

“Microsoft is constantly working on expanding monetization options for developers on our platforms and this partnership is another step in that direction. Unlike in other parts of the world, credit card penetration in India is very low and this, in turn, impedes the consumer purchase experience and limits app monetization. With the introduction of operator billing, we have seen significant increase in consumer commerce across developed and emerging markets. We expect Microsoft’s partnership with Idea Cellular to immensely benefit consumers and developers,” said Harish Vaidyanathan, Director – Evangelism, Microsoft Corporation (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Sashi Shankar, Chief Marketing Officer, Idea Cellular, said, “Microsoft and Idea have had a long-standing and an extremely fruitful association, and this new venture will only strengthen our joint mission to offer enriched services to our consumers. This development eases a consumer’s access to premium apps on Windows Store through a convenient purchase process. We are happy to be the first operator to partner with Microsoft for Windows Store and offer our consumers the ease to download a range of local and global applications without worrying about the mode of payment.”

The Windows Store currently offers over 550,000 apps and enjoys a 66% YoY growth in the number of titles available with 8 billion cumulative downloads to date. Globally, it offers 81 mobile operator billing connections in 46 markets with carriers representing 2.5 billion total subscribers. Operator billing helps developers increase revenues and we have witnessed an increase of 8x per month for total paid transactions in emerging markets and 3x in developed markets.