Mobile Phone Bill Payment System Launched

Irancell, Iran’s largest mobile Internet service provider, and Myket, a local Android app store has launched a new join direct billing service this week. The facility which is called Direct Operator Billing enables Irancell users to shop on Myket using their own telephone credit balance; the service is available for both contract and Pay-as-you-go SIM card holders. Myket is a minor player in the local Android download market. The largest local app store in Iran is Café Bazaar which has some 3.3 million users while Myket has a small share of 379,000 users. Though being new among Iranian Android stores, users have searched for Myket twice more than Café Bazaar during the last six months, according to SimilarWeb. Still, it is curious that MTN-Irancell has chosen this marketplace to disseminate its apps, which might suggest Iran Internet Group (the holding company for its investments) may have bought a share in the app place.