European Consortium Defines Next-Gen Mobile Services With Near Field Communication

Budapest, Hungary – A pan-European consortium of companies, universities and user groups has been created to develop an open architecture for the development, deployment and use of NFC-enabled applications in mobile handsets. Co-funded by the European Commission (EU), Information Society Technologies (IST) program, the ‘Store Logistics and Payment with NFC’ (StoLPaN) project aims to define open commercial and technical frameworks for NFC-enabled services on mobile devices. These frameworks will facilitate the deployment of NFC-enabled mobile applications across a wide range of vertical markets, regardless of the phone type and the nature of the services required.

The consortium members involved are Motorola, NXP Semiconductors, Auto-ID-Lab St. Gallen, Banca Popolare di Vicenza, Bull, Baker&McKenzie, Consorzio Triveneto S.P.A., Consult Hyperion, Deloitte, Fornax, Libri, Safepay Systems, Sun Microsystems, T-Systems, as well as the Budapest University of Technology and Economics and Budapest Tech John von Neumann Faculty of Informatics.

Many industries are employing contactless applications in increasing numbers for applications such as payment and transport ticketing. This suggests that the mobile phone may soon be complementary to cash and service cards. Recent announcements, such as the launch of contactless payment cards and terminals in London later this year, and the efforts of the GSM Association for NFC standardization, clearly demonstrate the drive towards contactless services in the industry. NFC trials conducted around the world proved that consumers like the simplicity of using the mobile phone to access and securely pay for entertainment, information and services while on the move.

In order to accurately address the interoperability issues currently affecting the technology, various usage cases are to be defined within the StoLPaN framework and tested throughout Europe. These use cases will contribute to the identification of a common set of business rules, which will define the roles and responsibilities of every player in the NFC ecosystem. The results will then be submitted for approval to the relevant industry bodies for standardization of payments, mobile, transit and ticketing.

Based on these findings, the consortium will look into the specifications for technical requirements and the security aspects of NFC-enabled applications. They will also explore the connection to existing contactless platforms, easing the burden on individual providers. At the same time the project team will demonstrate how the business rules and technical requirements can be implemented in existing contactless infrastructures. A NFC host application will be developed to support a range of services, including payment, access control, ticketing, loyalty, connectivity, and the retail check-out process; which consumers will be able to use with any NFC-enabled device.

“StoLPaN opens up new prospects for a forward looking framework for applying secure and easy-to-use mobile NFC applications, within the payment, mobile, transit and ticketing industries” said Gérald Santucci, Head of the ICT for Enterprise Networking unit of the European Commission's Information Society and Media DG. “This should help ensure that they - and their end-users - really benefit from the full potential of these technologies.”

“With NFC-enabled mobile devices you should soon be able to provide a variety of services, based on either the contactless interface or over-the-air-download, replacing the need for physical credit, loyalty, bank or transportation cards,” said Alan Wright, head of strategy and new business development Motorola Mobile Devices, Europe. “The StoLPaN project aims to make this vision a reality for many operators, financial service providers, merchants, and mobile subscribers.”

“We aim to create, an ecosystem that affords any NFC user the opportunity to access any NFC service,” said Marc de Jong, Executive Vice President and General Manager, NXP Semiconductors. “Successful completion of the StoLPaN project will enable a truly mobile lifestyle for consumers and will also create value for the whole chain of handset manufacturers, mobile operators, financial services providers and retailers.”

The StoLPaN project team expects to issue its first version of the business rules and technical requirements by the summer of 2007. These will be accompanied by the first version of the host application; demonstrating its use with transport and closed payment applications. The StoLPaN project is scheduled for completion by 2009.