OT partners with AFSCM to roll out NFC services in France with the 3 major mobile operators
Posted on 07.11.16
OT (Oberthur Technologies), a leading global provider of embedded security software products and services, today announced its partnership with AFSCM (Association Française du Sans Contact Mobile) to roll out NFC Services in France with the 3 major mobile operators, Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR.
11.5 million French users have an NFC compatible device (in June 2016), with a growth of 47.1% compared to last year. In this market context, AFSCM together with the three leading French mobile operators have decided to build a common hub to enable the massive launch of NFC services in France. OT is the sole provider for the deployment and management of this hub.
Smartphones are an integral part of our daily lives. Thanks to this new initiative, French end-users will benefit from secured digital cards in their smartphones that will become an all-in-one tool to transit, as local and national transports tickets and subscriptions are digitized in the smartphone, or to pay simply by waving them in front of a contactless terminal. Many other services can use NFC technology such as corporate or event access control, city services (car parks, libraries, swimming pools, etc.) and digital keys amongst others. These digital cards will be stored in highly secured NFC SIM cards.
All these NFC services will be provided through a single interface deployed and managed by OT. The multi- tenant architecture of OT’s solution allows a comprehensive mutualisation of resources and connections to service providers between the three mobile operators. In addition, it enables very quick onboarding of new MNOs or MVNOs.
OT is delighted to have been chosen by AFSCM, Bouygues Telecom, Orange and SFR since it is a very significant recognition of OT’s expertise in NFC and a fantastic opportunity for OT to be part of this new project led by AFSCM, a world first in terms of approach to the NFC ecosystem. AFSCM has adopted a very pragmatic approach in order to simplify the ecosystem: a single and consistent architecture shared by all MNOs to optimize the go-to-market for NFC services.
AFSCM and the three major French mobile operators have decided together to choose OT because they offer not only a new solution with a modern approach, but also a significant track record with Mobile Operators and OEMs. Thanks to OT, we will be able to quickly launch various NFC services on smartphones in France, opening the door to extend contactless technology to new types of devices and services.
