Vodafone has launched a Vodafone content channel within Android Market. For Vodafone users the homepage of the app store now has a Vodafone icon, given equal prominence to Market’s usual promo items of Apps and Games.
A click on the channel takes a user to a Vodafone channel – a store within a store that includes Vodafone apps as well as sponsored or discounted partner content.
The channel at the moment has Vodafone Music Shop as its top listing, then follows a Vodafone Maclaren news feed app. After that, the channel seems to be an aggregation of apps form Vodafone partners, including Rough Guides, Shazam,
Vodafone says the channel is the first of its kind in Europe,
Lee Epting, Vodafone Group’s Content Services Director said, “Together with Google™, Vodafone has made it really simple for customers to get to the essential apps they can trust. More than 75 million Vodafone customers around the world are regularly using the mobile internet, and we are committed to giving them the best possible experience. This focus on quality over quantity helps deliver on that commitment.”
The own-brand channel is already live in the UK, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain. Vodafone said it would launch in Greece, Ireland and Portugal “before long”.
The Vodafone channel is a further example of the ways in which operators are trying to remain relevant in the applications and content space. Instead of expecting users to come to a Vodafone branded portal, the operator has bundled its apps and content within an existing, OTT platform.
As for billing and revenue shares, one assumes there is now a three way hand-off for apps bought within the Vodafone channel, between the developer, Android Market and Vodafone.