Google will share with the MTS revenue from the sale of applications

As it became known to RBC daily, the American corporation Google entered into a unique contract with MTS on the joint promotion of content in Russia. The searcher intends to deduct to the operator 25% of the cost of each application downloaded in the Android Market by MTS subscribers, owners of its branded handsets. A similar agreement on the joint promotion of Google Play may soon be concluded and another operator of the "big three" - VimpelCom.

MTS and Google signed the first agreement on joint promotion of Google Play applications on the MTS network in the Eastern European market, sources in telecommunications circles told RBC daily. The press service of the operator confirmed this information. As part of the agreements reached, MTS will install the Google Play widget on its branded smartphones based on the Android OS. And Google, in turn, will provide MTS with a special section for promoting mobile applications of the operator and its partners.

Commercial terms of the agreement are not disclosed. But a source in the telecommunications market, familiar with the details of the negotiations, says that Google intends to share with the operator revenues from each download made by the owners of branded MTS handsets in the amount of 25% of the cost of the application.

The market volume of paid Android Market applications in Russia in the next three years may amount to about 1.5-2 billion rubles, said the source for RBC daily. But with the help of the new agreement with Google, MTS "will be able to bite off only part of this pie," the source said. Indeed, the share of sales of branded MTS smartphones in total sales of “smart” phones in Russia in 2011 was less than 1%.
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There is also another interesting news: VimpelCom is negotiating with Google about paying for applications on Google Play through carrier billing Beeline, that is, from the phone bill. The service will be available to all Beeline subscribers using smartphones with Android OS. “Now subscribers have to use a bank card to pay for applications, which is often a factor that keeps users from buying,” says VaimpelCom spokeswoman Anna Aybasheva. - A mobile phone bill as a source of payment will eliminate this barrier and significantly increase the sale of paid content. For VimpelCom, this is a double advantage - in addition to the commission on the sale of applications, revenue from 3G network traffic will increase. ” VimpelCom is leading this project for the entire Vimpelcom ltd group of companies, she said.