An overlooked footnote in Telus’ announcement of the BlackBerry Torch 9800 yesterday is that they’re the first service provider in Canada to support carrier billing in BlackBerry App World (AT&T got it first in the U.S.). That means if you’ve got a BlackBerry, and you buy apps through the official portal, the charges go right to your monthly wireless bill, rather than having to muck around with credit cards or PayPal.
Telus’ announcement is timely given the recent update to BlackBerry App World, that included $0.99 and $1.99 pricing tiers and some UI improvements. With any luck, it won’t take long for other carriers in Canada, like Rogers, to also offer wireless billing for mobile apps. It’s a unique proposition that few other app stores offer, like maybe the Android Market on T-Mobile. Hopefully, the added flexibility of carrier billing on Telus will promote BlackBerry’s comparatively weak app market.
[via CB]