VimpelCom customers will use their mobile accounts to easily find, try and buy Google Play content

Mobilink has announced today that its parent company, “VimpelCom Ltd” (“VimpelCom”, “Company” or “Group”) (NYSE: VIP), a leading global provider of telecommunications services, and Google, a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information, today announce an agreement to deliver a new, enhanced digital entertainment experience for VimpelCom customers across its markets.
VimpelCom customers will be able to use their mobile accounts to easily find, try and buy Google Play content. The cost of any purchased app can now be simply deducted from a customer’s prepaid credit or just added to their monthly bill.
The Google Play store brings together Google digital goods including apps, games, Google Books, Google Music and Google Movies into a single unified offering.  Users can access their entire library of music, videos, books, apps, and games in one place, all of which are also stored online, without the need to synchronize devices.
A dedicated “VimpelCom Channel” will make it easy for VimpelCom customers to navigate their way among the 600,000 apps available in the Google Play store. Available via the local Google Play store, the VimpelCom channel will feature dozens of apps, tailored to offer local content and services.
The “VimpelCom Channel” and mobile account payments for the Google Play store will be rolled out in VimpelCom’s operations across the globe, starting later on this year.
Mikhail Gerchuk, VimpelCom’s Group Chief Commercial Officer, said: “the collaboration with Google will provide our customers around the world with a convenient way to access and pay for millions of apps, games and songs, significantly enhancing the smartphone experience in countries where banking and credit card services are not widely used.
In most of our markets, we will be the first operator to launch mobile account payments for Google Play store and with the “VimpelCom Channel” we will bring tailored content to millions of our customers around the globe using Android smartphones” he said.
This latest agreement is part of VimpelCom’s consistent strategy of providing its customers with the best mobile internet experience, complementing its recently announced partnership with Opera Software to deliver better mobile web browsing for customers using a low-cost mobile phone.