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Telefonica partners with Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM for global carrier billing
Making a half dozen attempts to guess your login info or typing each digit of a credit card account certainly can get in the way of following through on impulse purchases, which is exactly how you'd categorize FarmVille cash or a featured flick that you know you may not have time to watch within the month. The solution is carrier billing, eliminating those precious seconds between impulse and reconsideration, and Telefonica has just signed on to offer the service to Facebook, Google, Microsoft and RIM account holders. The partnerships will enable O2 users in Germany or Movistar subscribers in Spain to charge purchases to their mobile phone accounts, for example -- in total, 14 Telefonica subsidiaries should be up and running with carrier billing by the end of the year, though some services, such as Google Play and Facebook, have already begun to roll out. Click through to the PR after the break for the full breakdown.
Telefonica Movistar bringing the iPhone to Spain?
Apparently the Enterprise Data Services Manager for Telefónica España, Francisco José Santos Esteras, spoke recently at PROCOM Aragón 2008 (a communications conference) in Spain and said that Telefonica Movistar (the mobile subsidiary) has a time-limited exclusive contract with Apple for the iPhone. It's unclear how long the exclusivity lasts, but it is apparently limited to months (as opposed to years with AT&T here in the States). This move in Spain is consistent with rumors we posted on a while back, though it seems that Orange will also be offering the iPhone in Spain within a few months. It also seems likely the launch will coincide with the presumed release of the 3G iPhone next month.[via Infinite Loop]
