France: Transit Operator Takes Lead In French NFC Trial

 

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Aubagne and Bouches-du-Rhône Region (Dept.)France
Scope: 
Trial
Status: 
Completed
Launch: 
Apr 2007
Main Application: 
Ticketing (transit)
Mobile Operator: 
Various
Service Provider (application): 
Veolia Transport
Users: 
Fewer than 100
NFC Handsets: 
Nokia 3220
TSM*: 
Venyon
Secure Element: 
Embedded
Other Vendors: 
ERG (ticketing system supplier), Crandy (mobile payment), NXP Semiconductors (NFC chip, secure-element chip)

The eight-month “TreiZEN” trial enabled users near the French city of Marseille to buy tickets or monthly passes over their mobile networks and store them on the NFC phones. They could then tap the phones when they board buses that run between Marseille and the nearby city of Aubagne and on buses serving Aubagne. The service could run any mobile network in France.

NFC Times Take: 

Veolia Transport led this trial, which is significant since France’s mobile operators have organized most of the NFC trials to date in the country. Indeed, the SIM-centric telcos in France would not have led a project like this one, in which the secure element is not on the SIM. Veolia was in line to participate in an NFC project with France Telecom Orange in Bordeaux following this one but the regional government there did not renew the transit operator’s contract to provide bus and tram service. However, Veolia plans to be part of a significant demonstration project in Nice next year.

 

 

* 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.

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