Fixed Mobile Convergence

Many of the world’s principal mobile operators have announced their intention to launch commercial Near Field Communications (NFC) services in certain preferred markets as part of their commitment to deploying Near Field Communications (NFC) technology. The mobile operators who have become part of this NFC implementation venture include America Movil, Bharti, Axiata Group Berhad, China Unicom, KT Corporation, Deutsche Telekom, MTS, Qtel Group, Orange, SK Telecom, Telecom Italia (News - Alert), SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telenor, Telekom Austria Group, Telefonica and Vodafone.

In a release, Franco Bernabe, chairman of GSMA and CEO of Telecom Italia, said that “NFC is perhaps best known for its role in enabling mobile payments, but its applications go far beyond that. NFC represents an important innovation opportunity, and will facilitate a wide range of interesting services and applications for consumers, such as mobile ticketing, mobile couponing, the exchange of information and content, control access to cars, homes, hotels, offices car parks and much more.”

Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) have predicted that the global total payment value for NFC should exceed $140 billion in 2015, throwing light on its significant market potential and the swiftly mounting momentum behind the technology.  To take advantage of this opportunity and to provide valuable new services to mobile users worldwide, the operator community is focused on driving the standardized deployment of mobile NFC, by leveraging the SIM as the secure element to provide authentication, security and portability.   

Bernabe went on to say that, “As we have seen, the adoption of different approaches to NFC will only serve to fragment the market. By uniting around a single standardized approach to mobile NFC and by collaborating across the entire ecosystem, our industry will continue to develop the compelling services that customers demand.”

In order to achieve this, the GSMA (News - Alert) will develop the necessary certification and testing standards to ensure global interoperability of NFC services. This interoperability is critical to the widespread adoption of NFC, enabling users to benefit from NFC services around the world, regardless of operator network or device type.