China: No. 3 Mobile Operator Rolls Out SIMs with Flexible Antennas

 

We're Updating our Interactive Map and Project Pages

Stay tuned for all new an all-new interactive map and exclusive content on NFC projects across the globe.

 

Countinue Reading

 

Nanjing and Jiangsu provinceChina
Scope: 
Rollout
Status: 
In progress
Launch: 
Dec 2009
Main Application: 
Payment, student ID
Mobile Operator: 
China Telecom
Service Provider (application): 
Nanjing city (multiapplication)
Service Provider (application): 
Nanjing Zhongshan Institute (student ID), Yangzhou Technology Institute (student ID)
Merchants: 
11,000
Users: 
700,000 SIMs with flexible antennas shipped to province
NFC Handsets: 
N/A
TSM*: 
N/A
Secure Element: 
SIM
Other Vendors: 
Watchdata (SIMpass)

China’s major fixed-line telco and third largest mobile operator is rolling out SIM cards with flexible antennas in Nanjing and other cities in Jiangsu province, as well as some other cities in China. Users have to replace their SIM cards with SIMs with dual-interface chips and flexible antennas. They can then tap their phones to pay for fares on buses and taxis and for purchases at retail outlets, such as gas stations, supermarkets, pharmacies and restaurants. Students can also use their phones as ID. Users insert the cards into their phones’ SIM slots and wrap the antenna around the batteries. The vendor makes the product in a few configurations to fit phones with SIM slots in different positions. Phones with metal covers block the transmissions, however.

NFC Times Take: 

Of China’s three mobile operators, No. 3 China Telecom is making the most use of what is considered a bridge technology, SIMpass. The vendor, Watchdata, said it had shipped 3 million SIMpass units by April 2011, most of them sold to China Telecom. Besides 11 cities in Jiangsu province, the telco is also issuing cards in some other places, including Ningbo city in Eastern China. Those cards carry a contactless e-purse issued by the Bank of China and supported by China’s bank card network China UnionPay.  While the country's two largest mobile operators, China Mobile and China Unicom, respectively, have issued some SIMpass cards, they appear more interested in developing full NFC phones. That includes China Mobile, which has agreed to drop its nonstandard RF-SIM technology in favor of 13.56-MHz contactless technology for contactless-mobile payment.

 

* Trusted Service Manager: Defined loosely to include companies or other organizations securely distributing, provisioning and managing applications, generally over the air, on secure elements in NFC mobile phones; or licensing their platforms for this purpose.
N/A: Not available or not applicable.
Last update: April 2011

 

 

 

HEADLINE NEWS

Australian Transit Agency to Launch Mobility-as-a-Service Trial as It Pursues Long-Term MaaS Strategy

Plans by Transport for New South Wales, Australia’s largest transit agency, to launch a trial enabling users to plan, book and pay for multimodal rides is the next step toward the agency’s long-ter

Updated: U.S. Transit Agency Seeks to Reduce–Though Not Eliminate–Cash Acceptance with New Fare-Collection System

Updated: The Spokane Transit Authority in Washington state confirmed that its new fare-collection system will include contactless open-loop payments–with a beta test planned for next October, a spokesman told NFC Times' sister publication Mobility Payments.

UK Government Seeks to Bring London-Style Contactless Fare Payments System to Other Regions

The UK government’s plan to equip 700 rail stations over the next three years to accept contactless open-loop payments is a major initiative, as it seeks to replicate the success of London’s contactless pay-as-you go fare payments system elsewhere in the country–a goal that has proved elusive in the past.

More Cities in Finland Expected to Move to Open-Loop Fare Payments

A fourth city in Finland is beginning to roll out contactless open-loop payments, with “more in the pipeline,” according to one supplier on the project, making the Nordic country one of the latest hotspots for the technology.

Moscow Metro Expands Test of ‘Virtual Troika’ in Pays Wallets, as It Continues to Develop Digital-Payments Services

Moscow Metro is recruiting more users to test its “Virtual Troika” card in two NFC wallets, those supporting Google Pay and Samsung Pay, as one of the world’s largest subway operators continues to seek more ways for its customers to pay for rides.

Ohio Transit Agency Expects Significant Revenue Loss as it Builds Equity with Fare Capping

The Central Ohio Transit Authority, or COTA, officially launched its new digital-payments service Monday, including a fare-capping feature that the agency estimates will cost it $1.8 million per year in lost fare revenue, the agency confirmed to Mobility Payments.

Special Report: Interest Grows in ‘White-Label EMV’ for Closed-Loop Transit Cards

As more transit agencies introduce open-loop fare payments, interest is starting to grow in use of white-label EMV cards that agencies can issue in place of proprietary closed-loop cards for riders who don’t have bank cards or don’t want to use them to pay fares.

Swedish Transit Agency Launches Express Mode Feature for Apple Pay, though Most Ticketing Still with Barcode-Based App

Skånetrafiken, the transit agency serving one of Sweden’s largest counties, announced today it has expanded its contactless open-loop payments service to include the Express Mode feature for Apple Pay.

Major Bus Operators in Hong Kong Now Accepting Open-Loop Payments–Adding More Competition for Octopus

Two more bus operators in Hong Kong on Saturday launched acceptance of open-loop contactless fare payments, with both also accepting QR code-based mobile ticketing–as the near ubiquitous closed-loop Octopus card continues to see more competition.

Moscow Metro Launches Full Rollout of ‘Face Pay;’ Largest Biometric Payments Service of Its Kind

Touting it as the largest rollout of biometric payments in the world, Moscow Metro launched its high-profile “Face Pay” service Friday, as expected, and predicted that 10% to 15% would regularly us

Indonesian Capital Seeks to Expand to Multimodal Fare Collection and MaaS

Indonesia’s capital Jakarta, whose metropolitan area is home to more than 30 million people, is notorious for its stifling traffic congestion. In response, the government metro and light-rail networks and now it is funding an expansion of the fare-collection system to enable more multimodal payments and to build a mobility-as-a-service platform.

Exclusive: NFC Wallets Grow as Share of Contactless Fare Payments and Not Only Because of Covid

Transit agencies that have rolled out open-loop contactless payments are seeing growing use of NFC wallets to pay fares, as Covid-wary passengers see convenience in tapping their phones or wearables to pay.