14 DAY TRIAL // TeliaSonera, TietoEnator and Nokia are testing in Tampere, Finland, a service that allows mobile phones to be used as travel cards in public transport systems. The service allows the passenger to load value to the travel card on his phone wirelessly from the network and to check the balance and history of the travel card. The travel card technologies and the mobile phones used in the trial are compatible with the new Near Field Communication (NFC) technology.
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 flexibility and ease-of-use to the service, regardless of the 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 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 that 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, thus making it possible to manage the travel card on the Internet.
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.