GSMA to Release Requirements for NFC Handsets
July 14, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
The GSM Association (GSMA) will release a preliminary set of minimum requirements for handsets containing near field communication (NFC) chipsets.
Developed by mobile operators supporting the GSMA's Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative, the requirements are designed to help handset manufacturers develop NFC-enabled phones that are compatible with operators' planned mobile NFC services.
The requirements will build upon the standardization work completed by the European Telecommunications Standard Institute (ETSI), which selected the Single Wire Protocol to provide the interface between the Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC), recommended by the GSMA as the secure element for NFC applications and the embedded NFC chipset within the handset.
The GSMA will ask handset manufacturers to give their feedback on the preliminary requirements, which will cover the handset's user interface, operation in low battery power mode and other aspects of the contactless functionality so that the requirements can be finalized this fall.
Mobile operator Softbank launched a trial of UICC-based NFC payment services in Japan bringing the total number of trials under the GSMA's Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative to seven.
AT&T, FarEasTone, KTF, Orange, SFR and Turkcell are also running trials and seven more operators plan to begin trials in the near future, said the GSMA.
Source: GSM Association (GSMA).