DoCoMo, KT partner for international NFC venture
09 February, 2011
category: NFC
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo is partnering with South Korea’s KT Corporation to develop international NFC services for mobile payments, mass-transit ticketing, promotional coupons and more by the end of 2012.
The two telecom giants are working through their joint Business & Technology Cooperation Committee to hammer out NFC common specifications that will be incorporated in devices, networks and billing platforms for seamlessly connected mobile NFC services. If all goes well, customers traveling between South Korea and Japan will be able to access the services using compatible Android handsets embedded with contactless IC chips.
DoCoMo has enlisted the support of NFC chip and mobile handset manufacturer Samsung, SIM card vendor Gemalto, and Visa for the venture. DoCoMo will also collaborate with Sumitomo Mitsui Card and bitWallet to enhance the cross-border services.
With 57 million customers, DoCoMo has been providing NFC-based Osaifu-Keitai mobile-wallet services in Japan since 2004. KT, South Korea’s biggest telco, has been operating an NFC mass transit service in South Korea since 2002.
The partners will demonstrate the new services at the Mobile World Congress 2011 in Barcelona, February 14-17.