Through its Digital unit, Telefonica has signed global framework agreements to offer direct to bill payments with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Research In Motion (RIM). It has started to roll out the capability in Europe and plans to have it live in 14 of its operating businesses globally by year-end.
Telefonica Digital plans to use its billing relationships with its customers globally to help drive the monetization of mobile content. Telefonica sees the ability to pay for digital goods and services via a mobile phone bill as a key way of driving downloads of paid for content, particularly in developing markets where credit card penetration is low.
