Telecom Lead America: NXP is leading the contactless
ticketing market with 74 percent market share.
ABI Research said shipments of the MIFARE range (Classic,
Plus, Ultralight, and DESFire) remain strong despite security concerns around
the Classic product.
The growth of MIFARE demonstrates that security is not an
overriding factor in adoption with the focus on cost effectiveness,
convenience, and reliability. Lack of alternative solutions has helped MIFARE
build a strong market presence.
The market has been dominated by proprietary systems such
as MIFARE and Calypso, though moves are underway that could potentially open up
the market.
Open loop payments using the EMV platform are a hot topic
and there has already been a large scale implementation throughout transport
for London’s network in preparation for the 2012 Olympics.
The convergence between open-loop payments and
contactless ticketing would allow seamless transaction completion between multiple,
international networks and also provide a launch pad for other platforms such
as NFC.
The integration of NFC will present new opportunities to
transit authorities. By partnering with local businesses, transit operators are
able to offer value added services, providing partnering businesses the
opportunity to offer consumers vouchers or marketing via NFC handsets. This
will generate new revenue streams for transit operators,” said Research analyst
Phil Sealy.
Open standards are coming to market with the OSPT having
already published the specifications for CIPURSE, a microcontroller-based
solution. Pilots are expected to begin in 2012, with other specifications
supporting a memory-based and a RFID disposable solution to follow.
We expect to see CIPURSE deployments start in Europe and
then follow in other regions as more cities see the benefit in smarter
transportation systems. A broader and more flexible product range will help it
to develop like MIFARE,” said Group director John Devlin.
