Mobile payment company Bango is providing a number of billing options, including direct operator billing, for Mozilla’s Firefox Marketplace for HTML5-based web apps.
The direct billing functionality and other billing options are available in the first launch markets for Firefox OS, allowing users to charge the cost of their digital purchases to their phone bill rather than use a credit or debit card.
With Firefox OS largely aimed at emerging markets, where many consumers don’t have credit cards, direct billing is a good way to ensure users have a way of buying apps and content.
According to Bango, the use of direct carrier billing increases app store sales by two or three times in markets with high card usage. This rises to a 10-fold increase in sales in markets with low card usage.
Juniper Research forecast that revenue from mobile content paid for via direct operator billing will rise from $2 billion in 2012 to $13 billion by 2017.
Bango’s billing tech has been launched for Firefox Marketplace in Spain and Colombia through Telefonica, and in Poland with T-Mobile. The use of Bango’s credit card billing connectivity is now available in Venezuela with operator billing due soon.
Other markets will soon follow.
Bango and Mozilla announced their partnership in May, adding to Bango’s existing direct billing partnerships with Telefonica Digital and T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom.
Firefox OS is built entirely on open web standards and has more than 20 hardware and operator partners around the world.
Telefonica launched its first Firefox OS-powered devices in Spain in July and recently added Latin America to its roster.
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