 | ONE OF the key forecasts in our new report 'NFC: The Road to Commercial Deployment' is that successful NFC services will require one company to firmly take the lead, and that this will inevitably see banks and mobile network operators going head-to-head in a battle to win control of consumers' mobile wallets. The news this week that China Mobile has begun a major commercial deployment of mobile contactless payments looks set to confirm our prediction, with a twist. China Mobile has opted to go it alone with its deployment, without any involvement from the Chinese banks and, more, has chosen to use proprietary non-NFC standard RF SIM technology for its new service. But Chinese bank card association China UnionPay is unlikely to simply sit on the sidelines and watch while China Mobile builds a major new payments business. It recently signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Unicom, the country's second largest mobile operator, that will see the two developing a series of co-branded mobile payments services. These are expected to be based on NFC technology and, therefore, would be incompatible with China Mobile's RF SIMs. Will China provide a blueprint for how to get NFC and mobile contactless services off the ground in other countries, too? Either way, the country's banks, operators, retailers and transport providers are going to be ones to very closely watch in the year ahead... 
Sarah Clark, Editor
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| RF SIMs are now widely available for subscribers to purchase from China Mobile stores and the first major retailer has signed up to accept the new mobile contactless payments technology. Full story »
"M-commerce is a strategic priority," says Visa Europe's head of UK and Ireland, "we are working and talking with all the mobile operators and handset manufacturers to develop standards for payment on mobile phones." Full story »
The six month trial will see 1,000 commuters replacing their current travel pass with a dedicated NFC device supplied by Neowave. Full story »
Trial participants can use their Sagem Wireless NFC handsets to make payments and to collect information and promotional coupons from smart posters. Full story »
Infineon, Giesecke & Devrient, Oberthur Technologies and Inside Contactless have teamed up to support the creation of an open security standard for mobile and chip-based transport tickets. Full story »
The standards body has published an important draft specification that will enable developers to protect NFC tags in smart posters and other applications from being tampered with or replaced with an imposter tag. Full story »
The NFC specialist is making its NFC protocol stack available via an Apache open source license, in a move that should make it simpler and easier for manufacturers to add NFC functionality to mobile phones and other devices. Full story »
• VeriFone buys stake in RF SIM supplier • China Telecom begins RF SIM trial • Telefonica announces NFC trial in Sitges, Spain • NFC Forum joins up with GSMA, EMVCo and Smart Card Alliance • China Mobile puts three million RF SIMs into production • Former Hewlett Packard chief technologist joins NFC solutions provider • Swedish NFC payments system developer gets $2m funding • Motorola invests in mobile barcode company • 15 billion mobile tickets to be delivered in 2014 • G&D and ARM to develop mobile device security solutions • Gemalto acquires mobile authentication leader Valimo Wireless • Sagem Wireless to add fingerprint verification to new range of mobile phones
Mobile World Congress • 15-18 February 2010 • Barcelona, Spain Next Generation Payments • 21-24 February 2010 • Dubai, UAE 2010 Payments Summit • 23-25 February 2010 • Salt Lake City, USA WIMA 2010 • 20-22 April 2010 • Monaco
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What will it take to launch successful NFC services, what business models will succeed and who is going to profit?Actions taken in 2010 will be key to deciding which mobile network operators, which banks, which industry suppliers and which service providers emerge as leaders in the field, predicts 'NFC: The Road to Commercial Deployment', the new research report by Sarah Clark, editor of Near Field Communications World. The report sets out the very latest thinking on the business case for NFC and on the opportunity it presents for mobile network operators, banks, retailers, transport operators, brands, social networks, advertisers, marketers and more. It also details the remaining barriers to growth that must be overcome before NFC can become a commercial reality and — importantly — explains how the leading players are expected to resolve these issues in the year ahead. 'NFC: The Road to Commercial Deployment' provides answers to key questions including: - When will the first commercial deployments take place, and where?
- How will the NFC market evolve over the course of 2010 and beyond — and what actions will the leading players take?
- How will the business case for NFC be resolved, and what business models will succeed?
- Which NFC services will become available first and how many will there ultimately be?
- What strategies for success will mobile network operators, banks, suppliers and key potential NFC service providers adopt in 2010 — and who will become the dominant players in each market?
The conclusions and predictions in this report are based on extensive telephone and face-to-face interviews with industry players and thought-leaders around the globe and on information gathered during the production of Near Field Communications World over the course of the past year. 'NFC: The Road to Commercial Deployment' is available to purchase today for £797 (approximately €910/US$1,260). Further information and online ordering facilities can be found at http://www.thenfcreport.com/road. Buyers of this report already include executives in the UK, the USA, Chile, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Malaysia, Russia, Singapore and more, working in NFC, mobile and payments industry suppliers • Mobile communications • Finance • Retail • Handset manufacturing • Payments processing • Software and hardware developers and vendors • Trade associations • Standards bodies • Government • Get your copy today! | | |
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