TIM deploys first NFC program in Italy

TIM (Telecom Italia Mobile) is to launch an NFC program in Trento, Italy. Gemalto will provide TIM with transport applications embedded in the SIM cards to allow TIM customers to use their mobile phone as a convenient access device to take public transportation.

Gemalto and TIM say they are paving the way for mobile contactless deployment in Italy. With the launch, ticket issuance becomes more efficient and interactive, users are able to purchase tickets from anywhere at anytime through their mobile phone, and travellers can validate their transport pass even when the battery of their mobile phone has run out.

"Our experience of multiple local transport markets has strengthened our overall expertise in the matter of contactless," comments Philippe Vallée, executive VP, Telecom, Gemalto. "Contactless transport infrastructures have already been deployed in hundreds of cities all over the world; users rapidly adopt the technology and enjoy the strong benefits that it offers. That is why we forecast that transportation applications will be essential to the take-off of NFC services on mobile phones."

Benefits of contactless access to transport are indisputable. Every end-user is easily convinced that NFC transport ticketing service is easy-to-use and quick (based on feedback from consumer trials around the world). Transport operators reduce the cost of ticket issuance, greatly reduce access point's maintenance expenses, harness fraud and enrich the users travel experience by offering convenient travel information such as timetables and location maps. MNO's leverage the value-add created by driving new usage scenarios, reducing churn, and by growing a new business from these daily and tourist users.

In this triple-headed ecosystem, Gemalto acts as a facilitator, providing its trusted sharing services and its expertise accumulated worldwide in order to deploy innovation in the best way. They also ensure transport operators that their ticketing and transportation services rights will be securely distributed and managed over-the-air by the mobile services operators for their customers.

Gemalto has already conducted several programs on various NFC transport infrastructures. In Western Europe for example, in 2005, Gemalto joined together with Bouygues Telecom and RATP to launch the first SIM-based contactless system in Paris (MPW 60, 72). In 2006, Gemalto working also with Bouygues Telecom, and with regional operator Transdev, delivered a contactless program covering Grenoble and its region, including smart posters so that end users can download maps on their mobiles.

In 2007, Gemalto proposed to SFR and RATP in Paris an enhanced system encompassing in particular an advanced user interface managed by a sophisticated tiny smart card embedded web server that leverages the handsets browser features. The same year, SFR, NRJ Mobile, Compagnie des Transports Strasbourgeois and Gemalto put in service the first extended NFC program that features both payment and transport applications using the same SIM.

In 2007 also, Gemalto associated with Orange, SNCF and Keolis provided Rennes' region inhabitants with a comprehensive multi-modal set of contactless services: bus, trams, trains, parking and smart posters.