Orange Launches Carrier Billing for Marketplace Apps

I don't know about you, but I'm all for a single bill for all of my purchases. I hate having to fiddle around with multiple bills and figure how much I paid from which account to where for what purchase.  Not fun! The inconvenience and financial nightmare this creates isn't even the worst part.  Storing your credit info in a website is a process that doesn't come without risk and to that end, Orange is launching a new service.  Starting this week Orange will enable customers to pay for their Windows Phone 7 marketplace purchases with their mobile account. This move will effectively bring Orange in line with carriers like AT&T and Telstra who offer this ability to their customers already.  This new service will be available to Orange customers on February 23, 2011.

This new service will enable customers to have a single bill for all of their mobile needs and wont' require the storing of credit or debit cards within the marketplace itself.

Xavier Perret, VP of Strategic Partnership at Orange stated this week that "It is a new step forward in our partnership with Microsoft on Windows Phone 7. It will allow our customers to enjoy the real benefits of their content purchases from the Windows Phone Marketplace by offering them a simpler and more secure payment method."

Orange will also be launching a new category of applications entitled "Orange Selection". This category Orange will offer applications that the carrier has developed, as well as, highlight applications from other developers.