Japan's leading mobile phone operators have established an NFC consortium to coordinate the adoption of multiple international standards for near field communication technologies in their mobile devices and services
The Japan Mobile NFC Consortium, established by NTT Docomo, KDDI and Softbank Mobile, aims to bring the operator's product sets into line with international standards.
The consortium members already offer the Osaifu-Keitai (wallet phone) mobile services based on Sony's contactless-IC smartcard FeliCa.
Overseas, however, mobile operators and service providers are increasingly adopting Type A and Type B standards to develop growing markets for NFC services.
The consortium says it intends to work with mobile industry groups in Japan, including service suppliers and handset manufacturers, to incorporate compatibility with the Type A and B standards in the Japanese mobile ecosystem.
The initiative will benefit international travellers in and out of Japan, says the group, and provide a common set of standards and rules for domestic innovation.