http://www.rfidjournal.com/article/view/4467
Nov 24, 2008—The GSM Association (GSMA), an organization composed of licensed GSM mobile network operators and the technology vendors that serve them, has announced that it has asked manufacturers of cellular phones to include, by the middle of 2009, a Near Field Communications (NFC) chip with a single-wire protocol and a SIM chip in all of the handsets they produce.
The GSMA announcement, issued by the global trade group at its Nov. 18 meeting in Macau, China, is intended to spur the global use of NFC phones. This step follows on the heels of four years of GSMA-led NFC pilots, many launched under the name of Pay-Buy-Mobile, carried out at various sites worldwide (see Cell Phone Service Providers Start Global NFC Initiative).
However, says Jonathan Collins, principal RFID and contactless analyst at ABI Research, that call is not a mandate and may not be realistic without specific orders for such handsets by Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
"I think the call from the GSMA is interesting, and an indication of mobile network operator support for the potential of NFC," Collins says, but adds that it will not impact vendors as would actual orders from MNOs. "Most handset vendors have looked at NFC, and have designs to enable their new handsets to support the technology, but production awaits solid orders from MNOs. So far, those orders have not been placed."
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