Indian mobile operator Aircel will today launch India's first mobile app store - beating its larger rival, Bharti Airtel, to the punch.
Aircel's app store has been developed in co-operation with software developer Infosys, which will provide the IT backbone and developer SDKs, the Economic Times reported. The store will offer both free and paid apps targeted at Indian customers.
Last year, Airtel became the first Indian operator to sign up developers to build apps for its own store. Over 1,000 developers have so far joined the Airtel Open Developers Community.
But despite this head start, company representatives told ET the company will not be ready to launch its own store until later this year.
Airtel provides its own SDK, and training on how to develop applications simultaneously for PC, mobile and TV platforms. The platform has been built in collaboration with IBM.
Both Aircel and Airtel will soon find themselves in direct competition with handset makers, who have eyes on the market.
In November, Research in Motion extended the reach of its BlackBerry App World store to include India. Nokia is planning to launch an Indian version of its Ovi app store, and has already launched customized SDKs for local developers.
All are eager to carve out a slice of India's growing mobile VAS market, which according to Research and Markets was worth an estimated 251 billion rupees ($5.42 billion) in FY09.