Microsoft has announced that its Windows Marketplace for Mobile app store, which is due to launch later this year, will support carrier billing as well as credit card payments.

The company tells MocoNews that operators will also be able to sell their own apps in a specially-reserved section of Marketplace - or as product manager Aaron Woodman describes it, “customise a store within a store”.

The operator billing is a good move for consumers, although developers will be scanning Microsoft's terms and conditions to see if the costs for providing this billing comes out of their share of app revenues.

Woodman declined to say what rev-share Microsoft is offering partner operators.

Several games firms have been confirmed as launch partners for the Marketplace, including EA Mobile, Gameloft, Hands-On Mobile and Namco Bandai Networks.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has also revealed details of the store's return policy.

Customers will be able to get a full refund on any app within 24 hours of buying it, although in contrast to Apple's much-criticised policies, Microsoft won't be charging developers extra for refunds.