Espoo, Finland, October 05, 2006- The use of modern mobile
phone technology in current public transport systems is being tested in
Tampere. The trial will also collect experiences to be utilized in revamping
the Tampere City ticket system.
TeliaSonera, TietoEnator and Nokia have together developed a
service entity where the mobile phone is used as a travel card in public
transport. Current travel card technologies and the mobile phone are made
compatible with the new Near Field Communication (NFC) technology. The service
makes it possible for the passenger to load value to his or her mobile phone -
and the travel card on it - wirelessly from the network and also check the
balance and history of the travel card.
TeliaSonera's role in the trial is to enable value to be
wirelessly loaded to a travel card located on the mobile phone. TeliaSonera has
developed a loading technology and a graphical user interface for the travel
card application on the mobile phone. Managing the card by the phone adds to
the service's flexibility and ease-of-use, independent of location.
Nokia has delivered Nokia 3220 phones with an NFC
functionality needed in the trial, a development environment for the software
used on the phones and a basic technology for the management environment used
in the trial. Nokia is a forerunner in the advancement of the NFC technology
and believes the technology will find its widest use on mobile phones. Nokia is
a founding member of NFC Forum, an association standardizing the NFC
technology.
TietoEnator has developed a self-service entity to the web
services of the Tampere City public transport. It allows the passenger to load
a desired amount of value to a phone supporting the travel card functionality
and pay for the value loaded. The web service works together with the
management system provided by TeliaSonera and thus also makes it possible to
manage the travel card on the Internet.
The City of Tampere continues to develop the citizens'
information society services and simultaneously collects experiences to support
the forthcoming revamp of the ticket system. The trial gives Tampere an
opportunity to study the possibilities of NFC technology as part of the current
travel card system.
NFC is an international standard based on the RFID technology. It enables an easy and secure use of the mobile phone as a smartcard in ticketing and payment transactions, for example. When the ticket is on the mobile phone, the passenger can load value, view past events and check the remaining balance on the phone, as well as use the phone as a ticket.
Source: Nokia press release
