More far reaching developments are on the way. Over this summer, NTT DoCoMo
announced further handset technology improvements, including a micro fuel cell
targeted at its 3G FOMA customers. The technology, being developed between NTT DoCoMo
and Aquafairy, is based on a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). Technology
improvements, such as these, in turn mean that better power and weight performance
will be available to support users and advanced, highly interactive applications
in the future.
Mobile e-commerce - the so-called 'mobile wallet' - is yet another theme
strongly evident in NTT DoCoMo planning. NTT DoCoMo FOMA
phones are now equipped with a 'swipe' facility based contact-less technology
which has made the mobile wallet a feature of everyday life in Japan in the past
2years, useful for everything from financial transactions and ticketing, credit
card facilities and most recently, an easily-usable form of electronic cash.
The secret of success?
To the outsider, these applications are proving successful and suggest that
the Japanese approach may well be appropriate elsewhere. The key strategy for
NTT DoCoMo seems to be strategizing for a mass market very early in product development,
an emphasis and control of handset technology and form-factor to deliver benefit,
and a determined focus on both service usability and convenience, and in making
the mobile phone the 'Osaifu-Keitai', an integral part of everyday life.
Commercial partnerships are another key strategy. NTT DoCoMo brought
in other major commercial partners at an early stage: both railway operators
and convenience store chains have been involved in the rollout of mobile e-commerce.
Agreements with JR East- a major rail operator - were built on the existence
of 10 million customers (as of February 2005) that had already used the Suica
contact-less railway e-ticketing system as well as its own subscribers. But,
in building new markets, NTT DoCoMo also expands its own role: not
only is it a mobile service provider, but it is also an active and secure facilitator
of transactions providing both traffic and non-traffic services to the user.
A secure future
This highlights another aspect: security will be important in the future to
give users confidence and reassurance in the knowledge that data in the phone
cannot be abused, and advanced biometric security features are already being
developed by NTT DoCoMo to provide these facilities. Unique and special services
such as authentication and authorization may well become a key strength in its
own right of mobile operators.
Phones, for example, can be locked remotely if lost or stolen by accessing
the terminal through calling it directly or via the operator, and so all phone
activity can be protected. Fingerprint readers in Japanese mobile phones are
already available (some phone applications allow them to be used as keys in electronic
door locks) and the company says it expects to introduce face recognition systems
in some of its phones going forward as part of a more refined biometric authentication
system in the handset.
For users, the combination of security and convenience is nowhere more evident
than in the introduction of what may be the most advanced mobile financial application
in the world to date: the NTT DoCoMo DCMX mobile credit function which offers
users a wide range of mobile wallet and e-cash applications nationwide. Users
can access a DCMX 'mini' application as direct e-cash if purchases are small
(under Yen 10000). The transaction is treated as an offline one and the user
billed with the phone usage charges. Alternatively, and for larger transactions,
the DCMX service means the phone can function effectively as an on-line credit
card. In this case, the comprehensive authentication and authorization facilities
offered by DCMX ensure maximum security for the user.
The future?
The Japanese experience suggests that future mobile applications will need
to be creative, useful, convenient and, above all, safe. Drivers for new services
may well come from outside the telecom community. Contact-less technology for
e-ticketing is one example which is already seeing high growth in other major
centres around the world. After a launch in 2003, London Transport - operator
of London underground trains, light rail systems and buses - clocked up its 5
millionth customer for its Oyster e-cash ticket system recently and is looking
to extend the facility of the application, which also uses contact-less card
technology, although the link has yet to be made to the mobile phone business.
Contact-less technology seems to have a lot to offer: London Transport says
it can process 60% more customers through turn-styles in rush hours using it
than with traditional ticketing systems. Many other cities are following suit,
and users are clearly becoming familiar with the concept. Given a successful
and proven Japanese experience, applications that closely tie handset, service,
convenience and user all together would seem the next big opportunity for the
mobile user and operator alike.
Posted on October 17, 2006
