SingTel Group has announced an alliance with Samsung to improve the mobile data experience for smartphone customers.
SingTel, its wholly-owned Australian subsidiary Optus and regional affiliates AIS (Thailand), Bharti Airtel (India and Africa), Globe (the Philippines) and Telkomsel (Indonesia) will all collaborate with Samsung on a series of initiatives.
The collaboration will cover areas including marketing, content and technology development, SingTel said.
As part of the co-operation, SingTel's domestic mobile business will become the first operator in Southeast Asia to offer direct carrier billing for Samsung apps. This capability will be rolled out to AIS, Globe and Telkomsel customers in the future.
Samsung and SingTel Group members will also collaborate on a mobile app development program and on providing direct access to applications without the need to first download them.
Samsung and Globe have meanwhile teamed up to offer a one-stop shop for both smartphones and mobile plans at certain Samsung and Globe retail stores. The partners plan to extend the retail collaboration program to India and Indonesia shortly.