Gemalto (Euronext NL 0000400653 GTO), the world leader in digital security, is supplying Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Russia's largest network operator with over 70 million subscribers, with its UpTeq NFC high-end SIM cards for a mobile phone-based public transport ticketing solution in the city of Novosibirsk. Produced and personalized at Gemalto's Moscow service center, the solution can deliver increased efficiency and responsiveness for the swift deployment of MTS' NFC program. Gemalto uniquely provides its Russian customers with deep expertise and local presence across telecommunications, banking and transport sectors.
Operated alongside Zolotaya Korona, a Russian payment and money transfer system, the ticketing service allows users to pay for journeys on buses and the metro in Novosibirsk, the country's third-largest city, simply by tapping their mobile phone on an NFC reader. For optimum convenience, users will be charged for journeys via their regular MTS billing scheme. Over 95% of public transport turnstiles and terminals in Novosibirsk are already equipped with NFC readers and the new system is designed to replace the current paper tickets. Queuing will become shorter for customers and the traveling experience will improve across the entire public transport network, throughout the city.
"As NFC technology moves beyond the realms of contactless payment, transportation is emerging as one of the most important applications, and our Upteq NFC SIM is the ideal platform to deploy a wider range of services in the future," said Thierry Mesnard, Senior Vice President at Gemalto. "High profile deployments such as the MTS project in Novosibirsk will have a significant impact, getting end users accustomed to tapping their mobile phone to enjoy NFC services."
"Will 2013 be the year of NFC? My response is yes, it is. We have reached a point of no return, from where NFC will be included within companies' products, apps, and services. The installed base will grow to half a billion devices and beyond. That provides you and me with an increasing variety of things to tap our phones with," added John Devlin, principal analyst with ABI Research.
