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Mobile Contactless in Nice

Cityzi launched in Nice May 21, 2010

Cityzi launched in Nice May 21, 2010


Launched May 21, 2010, “Mobile Contactless Nice” is a large-scale pre-commercial roll out of mobile contactless services. French mobile operators will market the first NFC handsets for use by several thousand customers. These customers will be able to discover, for the first time in France, a multi-service offer of mobile contactless services, benefitting from the support of mobile operators.
 

I - A mobile contactless multi-service offer
 

“Mobile Contactless Nice” is set to be the pre-commercial launch of a mobile NFC multi-service offer. In the framework of this project, the first commercial mobile NFC handsets will be marketed to 500,000 residents in the Nice metropolitan area along with a set of very useful mobile NFC applications.

“Mobile Contactless Nice” builds on many successful mobile NFC trials led in France over the past years. These experiments notably aimed at testing the technology and its use cases. The initiative led in Nice is markedly different due to the scale of the project in addition to its commercial dimension:

  • It is not merely focused on a single application such as ticketing or in-store payments
  • It relies upon a large sample of users: thousands of customers, compared with between 50 to 400 testers during experiments
  • For the very first time, the experiment brings together the three French mobile operators Bouygues Télécom, SFR and Orange.
  • The scope of the initiative covers the entire urban community of Nice, including the city as well as the 24 neighboring communes.
  • NFC-enabled mobile phones shall be commercially distributed in France for the very first time during this period.

 

II – Many associated partners and a variety of services tested
 

The AFSCM is responsible for coordinating this project which additionally involves the City and Urban Community of Nice in addition to many other local and national stakeholders:

  • Veolia Transport
  • The mobile operators Bouygues Télécom, SFR, Orange and NRJ Mobile
  • Crédit Mutuel, Société Générale, BNP Paribas
  • Adelya and Airtag, specialists in Mobile NFC loyalty applications
  • Connecthings, specialist in NFC tags

The first services on offer within the framework of “Mobile Contactless Nice” will include:

  • Public transport: ticketing, passenger information
  • Promotion of local heritage and education: e-campus project
  • Trade and retail: local bank transactions, mobile loyalty and couponing programs
  • Cultural/tourist information: museums


III – A rehearsal of the commercial roll out of mobile contactless services
 

Considered as being a general pilot run, “Mobile contactless Nice” could soon be followed by other commercial roll outs of mobile contactless services in France and in Europe. Many stakeholders have expressed their interest for this project or indeed for a rapid development of new services using NFC technology. Following their initial pilot experiments, the cities of Caen and Strasbourg are planning a wider development of contactless mobile services in their regions. Jean Paul Huchon, President of the Local Council for the Ile-de-France region (Paris region), expressed the desire to launch a mobile NFC solution in the local transport sector. Finally, the retail sector – through the Ergosum project which aims at harmonizing the mobile NFC customer point-of-sale experience – is also investigating the development of this technology with a view to offering new customer services and to reducing costs.

For further information, please write to contact@afscm.org

 

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