Apple Pay service also coming to France and Switzerland
Apple announced plans to launch its digital wallet service, Apple Pay, in new international markets including France, Hong Kong and Switzerland in the next few months.
Apple SVP Craig Federighi also confirmed during a keynote at the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference that the service will also be available for websites by the end of this year.
Apple Pay is currently available in six markets — Australia, Canada, China, United States, United Kingdom and Singapore.
Visa, Mastercard and American Express have announced plans to support Apple Pay in Hong Kong starting this summer. According to Apple, the participating banks in Hong Kong include Standard Chartered, DBS, Hang Seng Bank, HSBC, Bank of East Asia, American Express and BOC Credit Card, a subsidiary of Bank of China.
The mobile payment service will be supported by Visa Europe for its launch in Switzerland and France. Other supporting payment networks are yet to be announced, Apple said.
Apple Pay can be used on Apple’s iPhone SE, iPhone 6s, iPhone 6s Plus, iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus and Apple Watch devices to make payments at physical retail outlets.
Telenor Pakistan secures 4G license
In other APAC news, Pakistani mobile operator Telenor has obtained a block of 10 megahertz of paired spectrum in the 850 MHz band for the provision of 4G services.
The telco paid $395 million for the 4G license. Rival telcos Mobilink, Ufone and China Mobile’s Zong did not participate in the auction.
The spectrum license will be awarded within 30 days of payment.
Telenor Pakistan, part of Norwegian telecom group Telenor, ended the first quarter of the year with over 36 million subscribers.
In 2014, the Pakistani government raised more than $1.1 billion in an auction for 3G and 4G licenses. Mobile operator Zong had obtained 10 megahertz of spectrum in the 1800 MHz band and another 10 megahertz in the 2.1 GHz band.
Rival operator Mobilink obtained 10 megahertz in the 2.1 GHz band. Ufone and Telenor had won each five megahertz in the 2.1 GHz band.
