NFC agreement exchanged

by Surekha Galagoda

The agreement to launch Near Field Communication (NFC) was exchanged on Friday evening between Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel Chairman Nimal Welgama and Senior General Manager FeliCa business Division Sony Corporation Japan Isumi Kawanishi in the presence of MP Namal Rajapaksa. This landmark partnership between Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel and Sony Corporation Japan will herald a new era in m-Commerce.

NFC is a short range high frequency wireless communication technology enabling the exchange of data between devices.

Under the partnership, Mobitel with the support of Sony Corporation will develop deploy and manage a countrywide NFC platform that is based on "FeliCa" contactless IC communication technology developed by Sony and adopted by and used in Japan as well as many other countries and will facilitate various utility sectors consumer applications in the country.

This technology will support functionalities such as transportation tickets, boarding passes, m-Money, online payments, student/employee ID cards, access control, m-Tickets, loyalty points, multi function cards as well as consumer electronics.

CEO Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel, Suren J. Amarasekera said that the commitment of Mobitel to empower the government sector was evident by the introduction of new technology through sectors such as Department of Immigration and Emigration, Airport and Aviation, Sri Lanka Railway and the Labour Department.

He said that Mobitel will nurture a paradigm shift in society as it evolves from using paper to an innovative and environment friendly approach. Mobitel wants customers to become active agents in saving the environment in one of its many "Go Green" Initiatives.

Kawanishi said that they have already delivered over 400 million units around the world and was happy to be in Sri Lanka for the first time to partner with Sri Lanka Telecom Mobitel to create history.