Idea Cellular is the country’s third-biggest telecommunications company which is now partnering with internet giant Google to offer operator billing for purchasing apps, books, music and other services on the latter’s online platform. The two companies are expected to make a formal announcement of the partnership on Thursday. Till date, apps and other services on Google can be purchased only by using a credit card or an international debit card. One could also purchase the said items using Google Play vouchers that the company sells through retail stores across the country. Now with carrier billing, a vast majority of smart phone users will be able to directly bill to their prepaid account or post paid bill.
This might prove to be very beneficial for Idea Cellular as the move would help the company to increase its high-margin internet usage on both its 3G and 4G networks. This is because subscribers would now use more data for accessing products, and services on Google Play and other platforms. At the end of March, Idea Cellular had reportedly 22.91 million users on its 3G network and 6,80,000 4G subscribers. The company’s average revenue per user declined to R191 from R196 a quarter earlier. This was mentioned in the company’s latest earnings report.
Internet Giant Google is also likely to extend carrier billing or operator billing for its services with the other top two operators, viz. Bharti Airtel and Vodafone India, as well. However, the company did not specify any timeline for the same. Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular are the country’s top three operators by subscribers and number of users. These three cater to almost 60% of the 1.03-billion mobile phone users that the country had at the end of February 2016.