Mobile services provider Telenor has taken a step forward and launched a gaming portal for the public of Pakistan making it easier for the local users to purchase and use mobile games. Their app store, TelenorApps was announced at a Gaming and Bloggers Meetup held in Lahore, Pakistan.
Looking at the lack of credit card services in the country, this is definitely a positive step as the service is going to allow Telenor subscribers to download games on their phones by paying for them through their mobile credit (direct operator billing) and that too in Pakistani currency.
Need not to mention the ease of access that the users will enjoy while paying for the games in local currency instead of US Dollars. On top of that, the Telenor management is claiming that their services are going to be much cheaper.
For instance, you will be able to purchase mobile games for as low as PKR 15. If you go and check out the Telenor Apps store right now, it is offering around 42 games but this number is expected to be increased in the near future.
As far as the Android based apps are concerned, in time they will be offering over and above 300 games (plus apps) while they expect to launch around 1000 games (and apps) for the Java platform.
Telenor has partnered with GameLoft to make some of the exciting mobile games including Asphalt 7: Heat HD, Babel Rising 3D, Assassin’s Creed III, GT Racing 2, Block Breaker 3 Unlimited and Wonder Zoo available in the country.
It’s not just a great initiative from Telenor, Gameloft, on the other hand, is quite excited about the partnership as they intend to grow their customer base in new markets.
In a statement, Florent Vallauri, the Regional Sales Manager for Gameloft Pakistan and Thailand said:
We are thrilled to partner with Telenor Pakistan and bring out Gameloft most popular licenses to their subscribers for all types of device. Through our new tie up, fans of all ages will enjoy the endless action, social and high quality sport games from Gameloft for their JAVA & Android devices using simple operator billing.
This is neither the first time for a mobile services provider to have launched such a portal for the users, nor it is the first attempt by Telenor itself into the industry.
So what’s in store for the mobile users other than the list of games? Well, according to what they are claiming, it is going to be based on a pay per item billing that requires no hassle of using any other payment mode than the phone’s bill itself.
Although Mobilink, another mobile operator has a similar partnership with Gameloft, Telenor will be introducing in-app purchases for the first time in Pakistan.
TelenorApps is a result of experience company gained with the launch of Djuice Gaming Portal back in 2012 and based on that experience, Telenor has crafted an app store that delivers what consumers at large demand.
We asked Shahmeer Nadeem, the Assistant Manager Telenor Digital Services, why had the Djuice Gaming Portal been put to the back burner, and why they had they decided to re-enter the market now?
He said that the market conditions weren’t suitable at that time but with the recent launch of 3G services in the country as well as an increased trend towards the internet the opportunity is more viable now.
Moreover, while explaining how Telenor Apps is going to work, he said that it can be looked at as a substitute to credit cards, ‘it’s like PayPal.’
The Telenor Apps store is now live and can be downloaded from mobile by visiting http://apps.telenor.com.pk/.
