SingTel will offer direct carrier billing to its post-paid customers in Singapore via a partnership with Mobile Embrace, an Australian supplier of mobile marketing, advertising and m-payments technology.

Mobile Embrace said its technology will let SingTel post-paid customers buy mobile-optimized products and services across a range of verticals, including entertainment, sports and fashion, through direct carrier billing.

SingTel will use Mobile Embrace's Media Trading Desk to buy and manage mobile advertising, as well as its customer management platform, which integrates mobile billing with digital products and services.

The first services will be launched in Singapore this month, the two companies said.

SingTel plans to expand its direct carrier billing payment mechanism to other regional carriers within its group, including Telkomsel (Indonesia), AIS (Thailand), Globe (Philippines) and Optus (Australia). The telecoms group has 462 million mobile subscribers in 26 countries in Asia and Africa, including Bangladesh, India and Pakistan.

"This is Mobile Embrace's largest partnership to date and gives us outstanding reach and access to the Asian market, where in many territories mobile is already the preferred Internet access platform," Mobile Embrace managing director Neil Wiles said in a statement. "Mobile payments in the region are forecast for strong and sustained growth."

Learn more about direct carrier billing.