The GSMA's Board -- meeting this week in Macau, China -- fully supportsthe need for the ETSI* endorsed 'Single Wire Protocol' standard to provide theinterface between the Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC, or SIM card)and the embedded NFC chipset within the handset. The NFC chip can communicatewith existing contactless readers to deliver a wide range of secure,interoperable and transparent services, such as credit and debit payments. Aseries of operator trials -- under the GSMA's 'Pay-Buy-Mobile' initiative --have demonstrated that consumers can use UICC-based NFC handsets to quickly,easily and securely pay for goods and services in shops, restaurants and trainstations.

Rob Conway, CEO of the GSMA, said, "There is no doubt that there is a hugelatent demand for a large variety of mobile transaction services, of whichthere is universal interest in proximity payments, as trials across the worldhave already shown. We are committed to ensuring that mobile payment servicesare delivered as efficiently and cost effectively as possible. But this willrequire device manufacturers to make sure that the vast majority ofcommercially available handsets incorporate the Single Wire Protocol and NearField Communications features as standard.

"Doing so would enable the industry to leverage significant economies ofscale, and ensure greater accessibility of NFC services for mobile users,"added Conway.

This call for handsets is supported by recent operator trial results,which indicate a growing consumer demand for mobile payment services. Trialsare underway across eight countries involving nine mobile operators as part ofthe GSMA's Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative. Further pilots are planned across14 countries by 15 mobile operators.

In Taiwan, in a trial of over 200 users, FarEasTone found that 90% ofpeople felt positive toward to this new service. 80% of people were satisfiedthat the service is secure, and 40% said they would switch their monthlyspending to a mobile credit card service.

Seven banks and four mobile operators -- including Orange and SFR --involved in the "Payez Mobile" trial in France have announced the results oftrials conducted with almost 500 sales outlets and nearly 1000 triallists.Over 90% of triallists said they found contactless mobile payment convenient,fast, and easy to use. In addition, 94% declared that they would recommend itto their friends and family. Merchants welcomed the possibility of offeringto their customers an innovative payment solution, with over 80% saying theyappreciated the speed and cutting-edge appeal of mobile contactless payment.

Equally, in Korea, SKT and KTF found that m-transportation was verypopular with users, and this is likely to translate to other mobile paymentservices. Approximately 450,000 users of the "T-money" service were quick toadopt the service as it is convenient and compatible with existing readers.According to KTF's survey, 85% of m-transportation users indicatedsatisfaction levels were 'very high'. 85% of them believe that using acontactless mobile phone is much more convenient than getting their wallet outto use public transportation, and would continue to use the mobile service."T-money" attracts users not only for the public metro and bus, but also forsmall transactions such as buying goods from convenient stores by simplytapping on the contactless readers.

In July the GSMA on behalf of operators issued a detailed DeviceRequirement** document to a wide range of vendors and suppliers in the'Pay-Buy-Mobile' ecosystem. 37 key players responded, giving a clear pictureof the core requirements for any SWP/NFC device.

Supporting Quotes

"As one of the first operators to trial mobile payments, we've seenfirst-hand, the willingness of consumers to adapt to this new payment channelwhich is very much dependent on the availability of NFC handsets and theassociated ecosystem," said Kris Rinne, Senior Vice President, Architectureand Planning AT&T. "We hope that the GSMA's delivery of a consolidated set ofminimum requirements will accelerate the worldwide delivery of NFC-enabledhandsets to the market."

"We observed great potential for mobile payment services through T-money.We believe it is changing the behaviour of users and expect it to seesignificantly increasing demand over time. Supportive actions andcollaborations with banks and especially handset vendors will help to speed upthis demand," said Sang Ryul Lee, VP of Transaction Business Group, KTF, aleading HSPA operator in Korea.

Mung-Ki Woo, VP Payment and Contactless at Orange, said, "Orange has runtrials in France, Spain and the UK which show a consistent appeal to consumersin all countries for SIM-based, operator managed, mobile NFC services. ForOrange, mass deployment is now mainly dependent on handset manufacturersproviding a large range of adequate handsets."

Dr Nikolai Dobberstein, Head of Products and New Businesses of MaxisCommunications, said, "As Malaysia's leading mobile operator, Maxis is veryenthusiastic about enabling mobile payments via NFC and leveraging the growingcontact-less payment infrastructure in Malaysia. We are collaborating withstrong partners on this initiative, Maybank and Visa International and ourfocus is to establish a mobile NFC eco-system for commercialization whichprovides Malaysian customers with accessible & easy to use mobile payments."

"We are pleased to be part of this pioneering and innovative project trialas it will further simplify payment transactions and in the long run, helpspur the growth of mobile commerce our country. Meanwhile, we are anticipatingthat vendors will incorporate NFC functionalities as a default feature intheir handsets so more people can enjoy the technology," said Napoleon L.Nazareno, Smart President and CEO.

Ross Fielding, Executive Director, Telstra Product Management, said,"Telstra recently conducted a contactless mobile payments pilot withAustralia's National Australia Bank and Visa and early results from the trialare positive. Findings from an online survey of participants in the pilotfound a high propensity to use the service and further advocate its benefitsto friends and family."

"We see potential in the market for NFC based mobile payment services,which can both be seen from our customers and banks' feedbacks. We believethat the customers may gradually adapt our services once the supportinghandsets are on the market," said Cenk Serdar, Chief VAS officer of Turkcell.

Notes to Editors: Countries where trials are being held: -- Australia -- Canada -- France -- Japan -- Korea -- Malaysia -- Taiwan -- Turkey -- USA The GSMA has published two white papers on http://www.gsmworld.com, one ofwhich sets out several business models that can support a mobile paymentservice and one of which sets out version two of the GSMA's technicalguidelines for NFC.

The Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative builds on the infrastructure of the majorcredit card companies, which have developed specifications to ensure globalinteroperability between contactless chip cards and point of sale terminals,regardless of manufacturer, the financial institution and location oftransaction.

The GSMA is working closely with leading financial intermediaries andbanks to promote globally interoperable transaction solutions. BothMasterCard and VISA are supporting the trials with their PayPass and VisapayWave features respectively, that enable NFC-equipped phones to effectpayment transactions at secure contactless point of sale terminals.

In September 2008 the GSMA signed a Memorandum of Understanding with EMVCo,operated by JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa, Inc, to shareinformation.

LG, Motorola, Nokia, Sagem and Samsung are among the handset makersdeveloping phones for NFC-enabled mobile payment services.

Gemalto, G&D and KEBT are among the UICC card suppliers supportingNFC-enabled mobile payment services.

Vivotech and Harex are among the companies developing NFC-enabled readersthat support NFC-enabled mobile payment services.

The information received by the GSMA has been incorporated into a secondversion of a Device Requirement Document, which will provide a common set ofrequirements for SWP/NFC devices. This is intended to make it easier formanufacturers to mass produce devices and to improve global interoperabilityof SWP/NFC handsets.

* ETSI: European Telecommunications Standards Institute ** GSMA's Device Requirements: Operators taking part in the GSMA's 'Pay Buy Mobile' initiative are: AT&T Brasil Telecom Celcom Chunghwa Telecom CMCC EITC Etisalat Far Eastone GlobeTel IMC Island Kall KPN KTF Maxis MCI Meteor Mobicom MobilKom Austria Mobitel d. d. MTN MTS NTT DoCoMo Orange Partner Pelephone Rogers Wireless SFR SingTel SingTel Optus SK Telecom SMART Softbank Mobile Starhub Swisscom TDC Telecom Italia Telefonica O2 Telenor TeliaSonera Telstra Turkcell Vimpelcom Vodafone Wind Zain About the GSMA:

The GSMA (The GSM Association) is the global trade associationrepresenting more than 700 GSM mobile phone operators across 218 countries andterritories of the world. In addition, more than 200 manufacturers andsuppliers support the Association's initiatives as key partners.

The primary goals of the GSMA are to ensure mobile phones and wirelessservices work globally and are easily accessible, enhancing their value toindividual customers and national economies, while creating new businessopportunities for operators and their suppliers. The Association's membersserve more than 3.4 billion customers -- 85% of the world's mobile phone users.

For more information, please visit http://www.gsmworld.com

SOURCE The GSM Association