Countries like Japan have long been using NFC to help them in their daily lives, and not too long ago carriers in South Korea have announced that they will be offering SIM cards with NFC technology embedded into them. Now it looks like that standard will soon be adopted by some of the largest carriers in the world.
Many companies are interested in NFC as they are hoping to integrate it into our smartphones and create a mobile payment system. For a while it seemed as though NFC integration into our smartphones was largely dependent on the manufacturer, and whether they decide if a certain phone should get NFC capabilities, thus fragmenting the market of NFC users.
NFC embedded SIM cards seems like a more elegant solution of getting NFC technology out to the masses, and some heavy hitters have thrown their support behind this new standard. These include America Movil, AT&T, AVEA, Axiata, AXIS, Bharti Airtel, Bouygues Telecom, CSL, Deutsche Telekom, Elisa Corporation, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (du), Etisalat, Everything Everywhere, Globe Telecom, KPN, KT Corporation, Maxis, Mobily, MTS, Orange, Proximus, Qtel Group, Rogers Communications, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), SFR, SK Telecom, Smart, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telecom Italia, Telecom New Zealand, Telecom Slovenije, Telefonica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Telus, TMN, Turkcell, Verizon, VimpelCom, VIVA Bahrain and Vodafone Group.
Even ISIS, the group formed by AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon have announced their support for this new standard. With a standard in place, hopefully adoption will be easier and more widespread, and that new services and features that take advantage of NFC will come to pass.
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