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New easy-to-use and safe NFC-enabled services from Elisa(Hugin Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Elisa is testing safe services to be used by mobile terminal devices utilising Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. Elisa is the first operator in the Nordic and Baltic countries to test Near Field Communication technology (NFC technology) where a SIM card is used as a security platform. SIM card, provided by digital security leader Gemalto, enables safe transactions and payments, and makes it possible to transfer services from one telephone to another. Gemalto also supplied the applications. The new technology (NFC) is suitable for several uses, such as event inquiries, daily shopping, updating of positioning data and user identification. Thanks to the ease of use, the new technology is especially good for buying and paying for tickets. In addition to making payments, the service enables timetable enquiries, balance requests and travel card loading. Using NFC-enabled services is both easy and safe for the consumer: the service begins when the user brings the mobile terminal device to within approximately 4 cm of the reader, whereafter the customer can safely use the payment ticket or pay for purchases. For Elisa, NFC-enabled services used through mobile phone's SIM card is an important development target that enables safe and user-friendly services for our customers in the future, tells Timo Rajala, Vice President, Offering, Corporate Customers, Elisa. Elisa has actively promoted diverse use of SIM cards in mobile NFC services in international workgroups as well as in Ficom, Finnish Federation for Communications and Teleinformatics. We believe that with the emerging of NFC technology, new opportunities to develop innovative production and service solutions for our customers will open up, Rajala continues. The NFC service to be tested now is based on the use of Single Wired Protocol (SWP) for linking the SIM card and NFC micro chip, and on service applications saved in the card. In addition to this, applications made for the card use the new Smart Card Web Server (SCWS) functionality to offer an easy-to-use user interface. The applications are managed safely in the radio network, which guarantees a completely new outlook for service providers for maintenance and management of applications. City traffic will achieve significant benefits with solutions that facilitate the acquisition and usage of tickets. For this reason, already in 2002 Helsinki implemented a single ticket that can be purchased using a text message service. According to Helsinki City Transport, NFC technology will facilitate the purchasing and using of different tickets, and also decrease the need for investments and maintenance in the city traffic ticket sales system. Elisa wants to promote the development of public transport services in Finland by introducing new operating models and technologies. Elisa will introduce the new services together with its partner at the UITP Congress and Exhibition at the Helsinki Fair Centre from 21 to 24 May 2007 http://www.uitp.com/Helsinki2007/. Further information: Elisa Corporation, Timo Rajala, Vice President, Offering, Corporate Customers, [email protected] phone +358 50 506 7002 (NFC = Near Field Communication) Elisa Oyj is a leading Finnish communications service company. Elisa offers its private, corporate and institutional customers voice and telecommunication services, customised communications services solutions and network operator services. Elisa is the broadband market leader in Finland; it has over 1.3 million fixed line subscriptions, of which broadband subscriptions comprise over 513,000. Elisa is listed on the Helsinki Exchanges, its revenue for 2006 amounted to EUR 1.52 billion and it has 3,600 employees. Elisa offers services through the Elisa, Saunalahti and Kolumbus trademarks, and internationally in association with its partners Vodafone and Telenor. www.elisa.fi The Elisa Corporate Customers unit offers customer-oriented solutions to improve companies' production processes (Elisa Production), mobile work and office communication (Elisa Office) and customer service (Elisa Customer). Elisa Design, focusing on consultation, helps customers to identify and exploit new business opportunities. In cooperation with its extensive partner network, Elisa provides services for its international customers globally. The revenue of the Corporate Customers unit for 2006 amounted to EUR 416 million. www.elisa.com Copyright 2007 Hugin ASA (publisher previously given as Hugin AS, Inc) , Source: The Financial Times Limited |