The NFC Forum trade and standards group today announced several new members, including one of Canada’s largest mobile operators, Rogers Communications, and a chip maker for smartphones, Marvell Technology Group, as voting members.
The latest additions help make up for the recent loss to the forum’s membership rolls of France Telecom-Orange, one of Europe’s largest mobile operator groups and among the most committed telcos to rolling out Near Field Communication services. Mobile operators are still scarce among the ranks of the forum’s roughly 140 members.
Rogers, a GSM operator, has expressed interest in introducing NFC in Canada. It is also a partner with Canada’s two other major mobile telcos, Bell Mobility and Telus, in a joint venture to roll out mobile payment nationwide, especially peer-to-peer money transfers. But Rogers’ NFC plans are its own, not part of the venture, EnStream, said a source. EnStream is now testing its Zoompass payment service on contactless stickers. Rogers held its own NFC payment trial last year with the Royal Bank of Canada.
