EZ-Link and StarHub Launch Near-Field Communications Phone Trial

(Top News, 18 Oct 2007)

Just six weeks after announcing a partnership to trial NFC services in Singapore, EZ-Link and StarHub have completed a series of internal trials. With over 20,000 ez-link payment acceptance points in both the public transport and retail sectors, this trial would be among the largest of its kind in the world and will be the first public trial in Singapore.

From the 18th to 21st of October 2007, EZ-Link and StarHub will distribute the handsets for a 6-month trial to their customers. These customers have been pre-selected from over 2,600 applicants who had participated in a short NFC public survey conducted online.

These trialists will have an opportunity to experience the convenience of using the NFC phone for payments and as a medium to download useful as well as promotional information from smart posters. Their feedback will be essential in understanding behavioral patterns and user acceptance of the NFC phone which will be one of the critical factors in considering introducing the service on a commercial basis.

The EZ-Link-StarHub partnership aims to integrate the ez-link purse into a mobile phone with NFC, a shortrange wireless technology that enables contact-less applications. In doing so, they will turn these phones into payment devices that could soon be accepted at over 20,000 ez-link terminals on buses, trains and at retail locations that accept ez-link payment. Besides being able to use their NFC-enabled mobile phones as a means of payment at all ez-link acceptance points, users could also use them for other innovative "contactless" mobile phone applications.

To give trialists the ease of receiving bus service information, LTA will be deploying smart tags at 32 selected bus stops with a high volume of commuter traffic along Orchard Road. By tapping against the NFC smart tag on the Bus Service Information Poster, trialists can obtain a list of bus service numbers and routes that call at that bus stop via GPRS. This service is provided free of charge to trialists for the duration of the trial.

Alongside LTA's smart tags, Citibank and Wisma will be offering specialized offers to the trialists. By tapping onto smart posters mounted in Wisma Atria Shopping Mall and Orchard MRT station's concourse level, trialists will be interacting with the environment to receive these specialized offers during the six month trial.

Aside from these, there will be up to 500 ClearChannel bus shelters equipped with the smart tags along with another 200 smart tags or smart posters at nine Golden Village Cineplexes and a further 200 smart tags at Sony Gallery Stores that will communicate their promotions and special offers to the trialists.

Congratulating both StarHub and EZ-Link, Jeroen Keunen, Senior Director Marketing and Sales, Asia Pacific, Identification, NXP Semiconductors said: "As co-inventor of the NFC technology NXP is delighted to partner with EZ-Link and StarHub in this trial to expand the existing range of 'tap and go' services offered in Singapore. With acceptance levels for contactless applications already so high here, the participants using the NFC-enabled mobile phones in this trial are sure to appreciate the benefits and ease of use made possible by NFC's secure technology for transportation, information access and mobile payments. This trial is sure to usher in a new era of convenience for Singapore's public."

Echoing the same sentiment, Henry (Hakuyu) Yoh, Director of Sony Electronics Asia Pacific Pte Ltd, said: "Sony is extremely pleased to partner both EZ-Link and StarHub for this trial. Being one of the developers of the NFC technology, Sony aims to further expand the adoption of contactless smart card applications in mobile devices to bring about a more convenient and exciting user experience for consumers. This is the first time that Sony is participating in such a big trial outside of Japan and we hope that the trial participants will enjoy the multi- applications made possible by Sony's FeliCa technology."


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