This week at CTI,  Ericsson unveiled its new In Application Payment service, which the company says opens the door to carriers to get a piece of the application action and allows a broader array of payment options and content delivery methods. The In Application Payment service allows a consumer in a game or other application to click just once to complete a purchase without leaving the application.

It is aimed at content providers, service providers/carriers and wireless device handset outfits. It can enable not just credit card payments of applications, but also other options such as prepaid and more. It can be used to enable a content or other company to make apps available for purchase, rent or free trial. And service providers can opt to leverage a “virtual currency” feature so they can sell content incrementally and keep customers coming back.

The company has yet to go public with its In Application Payment service customers, but a large handset manufacturer has embedded the solution in devices that it expects to make available in Europe before Christmas, Jeremy Hamill-Keays, a business development manager at Ericsson, tells TechZone360.

Richard Anell, Ericsson’s vice president – head of sales, emphasizes that In Application Payment service also can insert carriers into the content value chain. He notes that the solution is based on Ericsson’s existing IPX mobile payment solution, which is used today by 122 carriers. While those carriers have not necessarily signed on to use the In Application Payment service, he says, it does mean there is a large ecosystem of carriers that can easily support it.

“We’re not going to work with small customers, this is for large companies,” adds Anell.

Ovum projects that revenue from paid mobile apps will top $3.7 billion this year and reach $7.7 billion in 2016.