The phenomenon of high mobile phone penetration and the pervasiveness of contactless card usage for micro-payment, credit card payment, transit fare system and

The NFC landscape

physical access control have drawn industry interest of blending contactless card functions into mobile phone.

That is how Near-Field Communication (NFC) aims to enhance the way we use our mobile phone to interact with the physical world around us.

NFC is short-range radio frequency-based communications protocol operating in unlicensed band of 13.56MHz over a typical working distance of up to 10cm, the protocol allows two devices to interact automatically by placing them close together. NFC is now standardised as ISO/IEC 18092 standard and backed by key industry players such as Nokia, Philips, Sony, Visa and 80 other participating organisations in NFC Forum.

The technology is backward-compatible with widely used contactless card standard ISO14443. Its passive communication mode allows a NFC device in power-saving mode to engage in communications powered by another NFC device - an important feature for battery-dependent electronics like mobile phone and PDA.

Paying wtih your mobile phone

Since mid-2005, several major NFC trials have been conducted in different parts of the world. The success of i-mode FeliCa service (based on FeliCa) in Japan and the commercial rollout of NFC in Germany show consumers like the simplicity of using NFC-enabled mobile phone as an electronic wallet for ticketing in public transportation or making small purchases over the counter.

Beyond micro-payment and ticketing, the trials at Atlanta and City of Caen have validated some of the more innovative uses of NFC-enabled mobile phone such as access control to car parking facilities, downloading tourist information at the landmarks, downloading digital content from street-level smart posters, and virtual loyalty card for point accumulation and redemption. NFC can potentially be extended to location-sensitive applications, personal identification, and individual health records nationwide.

Shopping with your phone

The large installed base of contactless card applications in Singapore here is an added advantage to NFC deployment, since the consumers are already familiar with these applications and NFC-enabled mobile phones will allow access to these applications seamlessly. Existing applications based upon proprietary contactless card standards may, however, hinder the rollout of NFC due to incompatibility issues.

While the communication interface and protocol of NFC are standardised, other aspects of NFC such as relationship between the SIM, NFC chip and the phone's operating system are not well defined at this stage. NFC devices that are based on pre-standard or vendor-specific implementation will impact the growth of NFC deployment and market fragmentation.

Your mobile ticket

A sound eco-system that benefits the merchants, service providers, card issuers, telcos and others in the value chain is critical for NFC deployment to be successful and self-sustainable. Despite the challenges, IDA is keen to facilitate adoption and creation of innovative NFC applications in Singapore - making short-range wireless go the distance in improving our everyday lives.

Contributed by Ng Kim Chuan
Associate Consultant, Enabler Technologies, IDA.