Devindra Hardawar is reporting via Engadget’s live-blog from the keynote of Microsoft’s Build 2015 event: Terry Myerson says Microsoft is bringing carrier billing to all Windows devices [including desktop devices] — which lets you send app purchases to your cellphone bill. Myerson says it’s the largest carrier-billing experience out there now, covering 90 mobile carriers.
According to Myers, carrier billing will now work on phones, tablets, and computers that use Windows 10: “Not everyone has a credit card, but everyone has a mobile phone,” he said during the keynote address.
In December, 2014, Microsoft announced carrier billing in China, India and Brazil, writing at the time: “Today we’re proud to announce that Windows Store has become the first global smartphone platform to enable carrier billing for app purchases in China through China Mobile, India with Idea and Brazil via Claro. China Mobile alone is estimated to serve nearly 800 million customers, including millions of Windows Phone users. The largest carrier in the U.S, Verizon Wireless, has also added Windows Phone to the platforms it supports with carrier billing.”
According to Microsoft’s blog: the company has “now established connections with 81 carriers in 46 markets, with a combined subscriber base of 2.6 billion – that is 46 percent of all subscribers worldwide.”