AFSCM and GlobalPlatform Finalize Contribution Agreement

29 June 2010 – Association Française pour le 'Sans Contact' Mobile (AFSCM), which facilitates the technical development of NFC and promotes contactless mobile services, has entered into a Contribution Agreement with GlobalPlatform.  The partnership will result in AFSCM contributing its business processes and end-to-end system architecture to GlobalPlatform for integration into its specifications, which will enable greater access to AFSCM use case materials and assist the advancement of the NFC ecosystem.

AFSCM has defined the required business processes between actors for real, mass market NFC deployments in France, with the technology now fully operational in Nice.  By sharing this proven knowledge with GlobalPlatform – the international body for smart card infrastructure development – AFSCM is opening up its use cases to a global NFC audience.  GlobalPlatform is currently enhancing its messaging technology to support the AFSCM's contactless system architecture and related data exchanges for application deployment.  As NFC technology evolves, and future advancements are required, the two bodies will continue to combine technical expertise to enable developments and adaptations to be synchronized.

Gil Bernabeu, GlobalPlatform Technical Director, comments:  "AFSCM has been instrumental in driving the advances of contactless technology within the French marketplace.  In addition to creating a forum to enable this innovative technology to be brought to market effectively and developing the materials to educate consumers, it has ensured service interoperability by promoting common specifications.  The association has also guaranteed consumer experience remains at the core of its members' advancements by encouraging harmonized processes and emphasizing the important role of security and privacy.  We very much look forward to establishing a long-term relationship with this forward-thinking association."

Pierre Noizat, AFSCM General Manager, adds: "We recognize that contributing to GlobalPlatform will increase the accessibility of AFSCM use cases by placing these on a universal platform that can be accessed by the entire NFC market.  With the success of AFSCM processes in the live Nice deployment, and the positive developments towards a contactless market in France, we are aware of the importance of sharing our knowledge to benefit all NFC implementations.  Working with GlobalPlatform will also guarantee that AFSCM use cases remain interoperable and stable in the future."

GlobalPlatform aims to support all business models to facilitate a fully interoperable and scalable NFC landscape.  Gil Bernabeu concludes: "GlobalPlatform works with a number of associations including the GSM Association and European Payments Council to ensure all recommended business models are sustainable through our technology.  We encourage any party with NFC use cases to contact us to identify if their model can be incorporated into GlobalPlatform's Specifications.  We believe this level of industry collaboration is vital to realize the full potential of NFC technology."

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For further media information, please contact Jonathan Lloyd or Sarah Jones at iseepr: sarah@iseepr.co.uk / jonathan@iseepr.co.uk or on + 44 (0) 1943 468007
Notes to Editors
About GlobalPlatform - www.globalplatform.org
GlobalPlatform is the global leader in smart card infrastructure development and its proven, technical specifications for cards, devices and systems are known as the industry standard. GlobalPlatform is a member driven association with cross-industry representation from all world continents.

About AFSCM (Association for Mobile Contactless in France) – www.afscm.org
The AFSCM is a non-profit organization whose mission is to facilitate the technical development of interoperable mobile NFC applications and to promote their benefits among end users, service providers and technology vendors. Created in 2008 by Bouygues Telecom, Orange France (a France Telecom Group company)  and SFR, the AFSCM members today include MNOs/MVNOs (NRJ Mobile), service providers (Veolia Transport, Crédit Mutuel, Société Générale, BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Laser, Airtag) and industry partners (Sagem-Orga, Gemalto, Oberthur Technologies, Atos Worldline, Prylos, Connecthings, Business Anywhere, Multimedia Business Services, Innovision).

Contact: Samira Fertas - Agence Com & Co (Paris), tel:  +33 (0)6.15.41.20.59 / samiraf@com-n-co.com