In a latest development in China, 45 major mobile operators in the world have decided to support GSM Association’s NFC integration with SIM cards.
Countries like South Korea and Japan have been using NFC to make payments for a while now, but it seems like the practice is going to become quite common sometime soon.Along with Indian players like Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and MTS, some of the major players backing this new standard are:
AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telecom, Etisalat, KPN, Mobily, Orange, Rogers, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), SFR, SK Telecom, Softbank, Telus, Verizon and VIVA Bahrain.
What is NFC ?
NFC is basically a decendant of the RFID technology. It’s a new wireless technology that allows devices to connect with each other and communicate over short distances, typically using a touch or swap gesture.
NFC possesses huge potential in the fields of mobile payments, check-ins and data transfers. It’s because of this the companies are looking to create a mobile payment system that could possible rival the credit card market. Previously NFC integration was possible only at the manufacturers level, but with this new technology it seems like any phone can be equipped with the feature.
Currently there are a few phones that support NFC including the Google Nexus S, Samsung Galaxy II and Nokia C7. With widespread agreement to the new standard, we can expect new technologies and services that take advantage of NFC to come soon.
How will this affect the Indian market? Do you think we are about to see a major roll out soon? Let us know in the comments....
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