Near Field Communications (NFC) trials have been proposed in small doses but apparently all the operators in a UK are pushing the technology forward.
This was the claim made by Charlotte Blanchard, director of products and services at 3, who said her company was deeply involved in moving forward to bring a standard to the technology which would enable tap and pay transactions from a mobile phone.
"NFC is starting to get a lot of traction," she told IT PRO during a meeting at Mobile World Congress 2011.
"Operators are all behind it [and] we are starting to see manufacturers behind it as well. It feels like all the pieces are coming together."
Blanchard didn't confirm any partnerships comparable to the likes of Orange and BarclayCard. However, she did reveal there were plans to trial five exclusively NFC payment-based towns in the UK by the end of the year, despite it being a "long slog" to get local services in alignment.
France already has Nice running on NFC payments and Blanchard planned to visit the city to get some insight into how it worked for its residents.
The key though was collaboration between operators across the UK.
"The idea is for [operators] to sign into the same solution and approach," she added. "Everyone recognises you don't want different solutions."
3 confirmed this week it would be stocking a number of the new devices launched during MWC 2011. Handsets and tablets it will stock include the Samsung Galaxy SII, the LG 3D, the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and a number of HTC's new range Desire S, Wildfire S, Flyer and ChaCha.
-
M&S suspends online sales as 'cyber incident' continuesNews Marks & Spencer (M&S) has informed customers that all online and app sales have been suspended as the high street retailer battles a ‘cyber incident’.
-
Manners cost nothing, unless you’re using ChatGPTOpinion Polite users are costing OpenAI millions of dollars each year – but Ps and Qs are a small dent in what ChatGPT could cost the planet
-
Three presses ahead with ad-block plans, despite EU guidanceNews Three wants to enable network-level ad-blocking in 2017
-
Competitions authority to assess BT-EE and O2-Three mergersNews The Competition and Markets Authority will look into the effect of both proposed acquisitions
-
Sky to launch mobile network in 2016 with Telefónica UKNews Broadcaster becomes latest high-profile firm to embark on quad-play push
-
Three to buy O2: Enters exclusive talks to buy rival for £10.25bnNews With Telefonica reportedly eager to offload the O2 brand, Three has emerged as the front runner to acquire it
-
Ofcom fines Three £250k over complaint handling shortfallsNews Regulator claims Three failed to register complaints properly or make customers aware of their rights
-
Three abolishes international roaming costs in seven countriesNews Mobile operator confirms customers travelling to certain countries will not have to pay extra for using their phones.
-
Three UK names new CEONews David Dyson will take over from Kevin Russell as of 1 July.
-
Sneak behind The Times paywall with 3News The mobile operator is offering free subscriptions to Murdoch’s paywall protected newspaper websites with its own mobile broadband deals.
