GSMA announced that 45 of the world’s top mobile operators have committed to support
and implement SIM-based Near Field Communications (NFC) solutions and services.
These operators include China Mobile and China Unicom, which account for nearly
800 million connections throughout China.
In addition to China Mobile and China Unicom, the operators who have committed
to SIM-based NFC include: America Movil, AT&T, AVEA, Axiata, AXIS, Bharti
Airtel, Bouygues Telecom, CSL, Deutsche Telekom, Elisa Corporation, Emirates
Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (du), Etisalat, Everything Everywhere,
Globe Telecom, KPN, KT Corporation, Maxis, Mobily, MTS, Orange, Proximus, Qtel
Group, Rogers Communications, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), SFR, SK Telecom,
Smart, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telecom Italia, Telecom New Zealand, Telecom Slovenije,
Telefonica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Telus, TMN, Turkcell,
Verizon, VimpelCom, VIVA Bahrain and Vodafone Group. Additionally, ISIS, the
organisation formed by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless to
build a nationwide mobile commerce network in the United States, also supports
SIM-based NFC.
“Clearly the momentum behind SIM-based NFC is growing rapidly,
particularly with leading operators China Mobile and China Unicom supporting
NFC services secured by the SIM card,” said Franco Bernabe, chairman of
the GSMA, and CEO and Chairman of Telecom Italia Group.
NFC is an important innovation for consumers around the world, and while it is
perhaps best known for enabling secure mobile payments, it will also enable a
wide range of innovative and exciting new services and applications, such as
mobile ticketing, entertainment services, secure access to hotels or cars,
loyalty schemes and couponing, among others.
“China Mobile is able to offer SIM-based NFC on an extremely large scale
and we have the experience, the technical infrastructure and trusted customer
care network to support and effectively stimulate the market,” said Sha
Yuejia, executive director and vice president of China Mobile.
Nearly 1.5 billion SIM-based handsets will have been sold worldwide between
2010 and 2016, supporting transactions of more than $50 billion globally over
the same period, according to Strategy Analytics.
ABI Research indicates that 85 per cent of all new point of sale terminals
shipped in 2016 will be NFC-enabled.
“China Unicom is known for its innovation and we strongly support
SIM-based NFC technology that can ensure contactless services are available to
our consumers, and will be interoperable and roam effectively wherever the
consumer chooses to go,” said Lu Yimin, president and vice chairman of
China Unicom.
By Telecomlead.com Team
editor@telecomlead.com
