Mobile Network Operators and Cooperation - IMP Group

150 CHAPTER 5. MOBILE PAYMENT AND CONTACTLESS SERVICES
Identified obstacles
The GSMA itself and others have identified a number of obstacles or "roadblocks"
for the development of NFC based services, see [243] and [244]. Initially there
was no clear roadmap for NFC enabled mobile phones. There existed a number
of different technical solutions with a risk of market fragmentation. Today the
standards are under completion and SIM card is seen as a legitimate solution for
the NFC secure element. GSMA is also engaging the industry to define a UICC
certification process for NFC Services.
The lack of commercially available Single Wire Protocol (SWP) NFC handsets
is another main issue. Here, GSMA has developed as SWP device requirements
document to be used by mobile operators as a basis for SWP handset procurement.
Another area of main concern is the lack of contactless point-of -sales (PoS) infrastructure
or a lack of understanding of drivers and mechanisms for global deployment
of contactless infrastructure. GSMA is engaging with the financial industry
and retailers to understand the deployment plans for contactless infrastructure
Finally, both the business models as well as strategies for co-operation between
between players in the ecosystem are unclear. The roles and responsibilities of actors
involved in trusted service management are unclear. According to GSMA [243]
"the mobile network operators are engaging with key ecosystem players within
their respective markets to address this issue."
The pilot projects and trails mentioned below may one way to address this issue.
These opinions about obstacles from the industry organization GSMA is supported
by an expert survey presented by VTT, [253]. This study indicates that the
most important NFC drivers and obstacles are related to the business, technology
and end-user aspects. The obstacles for use of NFC technology and services in
public transportation was found to be
• Unclear Business and Co-operation Models
• Lack of Understanding Benefits or Costs
• Lack of NFC Devices
When it comes to pilot projects and trials the need to include also business
model, revenue and costs aspects is highlighted:
"From this perspective it can be argued, that besides the testing of technical functionality
and use-case concepts, the NFC pilots in the future should concentrate on
business models, money flows, concrete benefits and real costs. This would also
create the basis for robust business cases and mass market feasibility, which are
needed to encourage different stake holders to make investment decisions. Analysis
reveals that the most important NFC restraints and drivers are related to the
business, technology and end-user aspects"