SingTel including Bharti Airtel and Samsung announced joint initiatives such as retail collaboration program, direct carrier billing, mobile app development challenge and direct access to selected apps — to better mobile data experience.
SingTel in Singapore, Optus in Australia, AIS in Thailand, Airtel in India and Africa, Globe Telecom in the Philippines and Telkomsel in Indonesia will benefit from the new development.
The focus of the new initiative is to offer better mobile data experience for customers.
Moon Soo Kim, president and CEO of Samsung Asia, said: “As mobile usage grows in the region, Samsung will continue to work hand-in-hand with partners like SingTel to bring more innovative technology and services to consumers in the market.”
The new initiative is offering four distinct benefits to customers and the mobile industry eco-system.
First, select Samsung retail shops will sell Airtel SIMs and services in India. Bharti Airtel, which has more than 100 company-owned retail shops in India, will offer Samsung devices as well. The retail collaboration program is now available to customers of Globe Telecom in the Philippines and will be available to customers of Airtel India and Telkomsel in Indonesia.
Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel (India & South Asia) said, “Our association with Samsung in particular has helped us propel smartphone penetration and data adoption in the country and the launch of Samsung Galaxy S5 is yet another step in this direction.”
Second, SingTel (Singapore) is the first in South East Asia to offer direct carrier billing for Samsung Apps allowing its postpaid customers to buy apps and content from Samsung Apps without a credit card.
The initiative will be available to customers of AIS (Thailand), Globe Telecom (the Philippines) and Telkomsel (Indonesia). You can buy apps and content from Samsung Apps by charging the purchase amount to their phone bills or deducting it from your prepaid account balances.
Third, the mobile app development sponsorship program will identify start-ups in the region and help them to accelerate their development and gain access to the Group’s 500 million mobile customers. SingTel (Singapore), Optus (Australia), AIS (Thailand), Globe Telecom (the Philippines), and Telkomsel (Indonesia) market these apps.
Fourth, Samsung and SingTel Group Digital L!fe will deliver mobile services by enabling customers to access selected services directly on the phone without the need of having to download them. The applications — available to customers of AIS (Thailand), Globe Telecom (the Philippines), and Telkomsel (Indonesia) starting with the Galaxy S5 — are customized to reflect local requirements and content.
