GSMA Mobile World Congress Puts NFC In Spotlight

The leaders in mobile gather this week at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, Spain. A few days ago the GSMA released estimates of more than four billion mobile phone connections worldwide, about 100 million of those are delivered via mobile broadband. The industry association also predicts that even in the midst of a broad economic slowdown the world will reach approximately six billion connections by 2013.

In the near term, however, for only the second time since 1980s, the number of new handsets that ship this year could fall this year. Some estimate by 10 percent. Nonetheless, handset makers and chip manufacturers continue to churn out products and find new features that impress consumers.

Inside Contactless said Monday the contactless chip technology provider will work with Qualcomm to advance the growth of the Near Field Communication (NFC) handset market. As part of the collaboration, the companies will jointly develop two 3G handset reference designs, one each for UMTS and CDMA2000 networks.

The designs will combine Qualcomm's Mobile Station Modem (MSM) chipsets with Inside Contactless' MicroRead multi-standard NFC chip. The companies expect to make reference designs available in the second half of 2009.

Last week, Qualcomm said it added support for Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to some of its mobile chipsets. The company envisions a future where consumers rely on technology embedded into cellular phones to buy goods and services.

Handset makers can use NFC, a short-range wireless technology that operates at 13.56 MHz, as a secure, contactless exchange of data. For example, consumers have tested NFC-equipped phones in the mass transit system in San Francisco. Consumers can swipe it near a compatible terminal to pay for transformation fees. The phone is tied to a user's bank account, credit card, or other financial account like PayPal. NFC also is being used in some bank debit cards.

"NFC technology holds great potential for changing the way mobile devices are used," said Mike Concannon, Qualcomm's senior VP of product management, in a statement. "We are now engaged with leaders in NFC technology to offer reference designs that have this next-generation functionality."

Mobile payments are seen as an attractive feature, but the possibilities extend far beyond. Aside from being used in some bank debit cards, entertainment venues and companies could equip cards with NFC to wirelessly transfer information about events.

The GSMA is attempting to push adoption, and recently called for mainstream cellphone makers to support NFC technology by mid-2009.

Nokia recently enabled the 6212 cellular phone with NFC, positioning the phone as a mobile payment device. The 3G handset has a candy-bar design, enabling NFC-equipped users to wirelessly exchange all information. The phone comes with three NFC sticker tags. One opens the NFC introduction in the phone. Users can edit tags to write calendar entries or set alarm clock, for example.