Well it seems NFC might be delayed due to a large battle between cellphone makers such as RIM and cellphone carriers like At&t, Rogers, Telus, and T-Mobile. The fight is over the control of the upcoming mobile-payment data, or (NFC) Near Field Communications.
It seems RIM and others (Apple) are determined to make phones that will store important data , known as “credentials,” into the devices directly. The carriers, say they want to store credentials into the SIM cards that are inserted into devices. Basically, the move will determine who will control the customers, revenue and applications that grow out of mobile payments systems and technologies.
“The carriers have been saying in a gentle way to RIM, ‘Guys, you won’t be doing this,'” said Robin Dua, chief executive of EnStream LP, a firm set up by Canada’s three biggest wireless companies to implement their mobile-payments strategy. “I think it’s going to be a little bit of a fight, frankly.”
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Carrier officials have spoken and said RIM wants the credentials built into a secure area of the BlackBerry itself, which would bind users to its devices and potentially cut carriers out of the loop.
RIM executives declined to comment specifically about their mobile-payment strategy. But Jim Tobin, senior vice president of software and business services, said the company’s “mode of being carrier supportive will continue.”
What do you think? I have bad experiences with carrier reps. Over the 5 years of service with my carrier, I’ve dealt with unqualified, incompetent and ill-trained staff who could not solve my simple issue for the life of them. Hell, thats one reason why we started this blog. To help people who need help with their BlackBerry smartphones.
RIM does an excellent job with customer support via their site and through socialnetworking media. RIM takes pride in their work, and provides us the essential native applications we rely on everyday. I wouldn’t mind having my credentials tied to my device or to my brand, BlackBerry because I’m sure they will make credentials easily accessible the way they make everything else.
Of course, people don’t always stay with the same brand of phone and also, not every cell phone maker uses SIM card technologies so we’ll just sit back and see this all play out.