A new premium NFC smartphone from Pantech will be available in South Korea through SK Telecom from later this month... More
SK Telecom (SKT)
SK Telecom launches SIM cards that add NFC to existing phones
The ‘NFC on USIM’ cards support card emulation and tag read/write functions and are expected to cost in the region of US$30-40 each. Peer-to-peer support will be added towards the end of 2011. More
SK Telecom: All new smartphones must come with NFC
The Korean mobile network operator has committed to an aggressive plan to quickly move large numbers of its customers towards NFC services by deciding that, from now on, it will only offer smartphones equipped with NFC functionality. More
SK Telecom to open NFC Zone in Seoul
Korean mobile network operator SK Telecom is to open an ‘NFC Zone’ in Seoul, the company’s head of global partnerships has told delegates attending the GSMA’s Mobile Money Summit in Singapore... More
Korea drives ahead with plans for NFC leadership
Up to 300,000 NFC-enabled points of sale are set to be installed in South Korea and all smartphones must include NFC capabilities by the end of 2011, Reuters has reported... More
Korean national NFC alliance aims to create a billion dollar business opportunity
Korean mobile network operators, card issuers, consumer electronics manufacturers and government organisations have formed the Grand NFC Korea Alliance with the aim of creating a US$1bn business opportunity and more than 5,000 jobs. More
NFC news in brief • 17 May 2011
News in brief from the NFC world and beyond: US files lawsuit against Verifone/Hypercom deal • iPhone 5 unlikely to support NFC payments, says analyst • ‘Paper’ phone unveiled • Vivotech adds NFC to mag stripe terminals • Hashable adds NFC to contacts app • Sequent raises funds • Connecthings invests in Lifera • and more… More
SK Telecom opens retail outlet that uses NFC to let shoppers browse in-store and buy online
The Korean mobile network operator’s new Q-Store aims to combine the best of online and in-store retailing by enabling shoppers to look at products in a retail environment and then use 2D barcodes and NFC tags attached to them to go online with their phone to get more information and make a purchase. More
10% of Japanese consumers made a purchase with their mobile wallet in December
Analysis by Comscore for its 2010 Mobile Year in Review has found that just under 10% of Japanese mobile subscribers made a purchase with their mobile wallet during December 2010... More
Toshiba begins NFC SIM mass production
Toshiba has announced it has now completed testing of an NFC UIM, a user identity module that can be used in both CDMA2000 NFC phones and as a SIM card for GSM NFC phones, and is now ready to begin mass production... More
KDDI, Softbank, SK Telecom begin testing joint NFC services for Japanese and Korean consumers
The three mobile network operators, who signed an NFC cooperation agreement in July 2010, are to begin testing a number of cross-border NFC services this month with the aim of launching commercial services by the end of 2011. More
NTT Docomo partners with Korea’s KT to switch to NFC at end of 2012
Mobile network operator NTT Docomo, the driving force behind Japan’s Osaifu-Keitai mobile wallet service, has confirmed that it will make the move to NFC standard technology from “around the end of 2012”, in partnership with Korea’s KT. More
Softbank to test NFC in Japan
Softbank Mobile has partnered with credit card issuers Credit Saison and Orient Corporation to test NFC on HTC Android smartphones equipped with a SIM+antenna solution and mobile wallet software. More
NTT Docomo adds NFC tag reading to wide range of mobile phones
NTT Docomo has begun the world’s first mass market deployment of mobile phones with NFC tag reading capabilities. Sixteen of the operator’s new range of mobile phones and a number of existing handsets will be able to perform both Osaifu-Keitai mobile contactless payments functions and NFC tag reading from next week. More
SK C&C USA joins GlobalPlatform
SK C&C USA, the US arm of Korean mobile commerce specialist SK C&C has joined international smart card and NFC specifications body GlobalPlatform... More
Report: Korean mobile contactless payments market set to take off
A new report from financial services analysts Celent forecasts that the mobile contactless payments market in South Korea is set to grow at an average compound annual growth rate of some 50%... More
First Data to offer turnkey NFC service to US banks from early 2011
The payments processing giant has signed a deal with Korea’s SK C&C, responsible for the technology behind SK Telecom’s mobile contactless payments service, and will begin offering a turnkey NFC payments service to US banks from the first quarter of 2011. More
KDDI, Softbank Mobile and SK Telecom to introduce NFC standard services in Japan and Korea
The three mobile network operators are to move away from the non-NFC mobile contactless technologies they currently support in favour of an NFC standard solution. More
Retail partnerships are the key to a new NFC business model
OPINION: Korean mobile network operator SK Telecom’s new T Smart Pay service comes with more than one twist to the ‘standard’ NFC business model. Not only has SKT bought its way into a card issuer for the launch, but it is also signing distribution deals with leading retailers. More
SK Telecom and Hana launch SIM-based mobile contactless payments and promotions service
Korean consumers who sign up for a Hana SK Card credit account and pick up a new ‘13.56MHz RF SIM’ via a retail partner will then be able to store multiple credit, loyalty and membership cards and discount coupons on their mobile phone. More