NXP, Nokia aid Austrian telelcom in NFC launch

The Telecom Austria Group announced that its mobile subsidiary, mobilkom austria, has launched NFC services in Austria in cooperation with its partners NXP Semiconductors, Nokia, Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) and Wiener Linien.

NFC services will soon be available throughout the country, facilitating short-range communication between electronic devices via a fast and simple wireless connection. NFC promises to make many everyday applications even simpler. For instance, a mobile phonecan be transformed into a railway ticket, tram ticket, pay-and-display parking ticket, lottery ticket and much more.

"In the first phase of the roll-out, we will be using NFC to make already successful services even faster and more convenient," said Hannes Ametsreiter, CMO mobilkom austria and CMO Telekom Austria. "During the second phase, we plan to launch additional exciting applications such as the mobile purse. In order to ensure that these future applications are absolutely safe for our customers, we need the industry to deliver a standardized solution on the basis of the SIM card."

"This collaboration provides an ideal basis for future NFC applications in Austria, which make users' lives easier, such as payment transactions, event ticketing and access control via mobile phone," said Ernst M¨¹llner, CEO of NXP Austria.

Finnish handsetmaker Nokia was first to introduce NFC cellphones to the Austrian market with its Nokia 6131 handset. "Nokia has always attached importance to integrating innovative technologies into mobile phones in a manner designed to enhance convenience and efficiency for the user," says Martin Pedersen, managing director, Nokia Alps.

Mobile phone tickets and SMS tickets have become extremely popular with customers of ÖBB and Wiener Linien, Vienna's main public transport provide. The launch of NFC offers customers a new, innovative and safe way of purchasing public transport tickets.