There has been an agreement of NFC collaboration between major operators, Orange, Telefonica Movistar and Vodafone. As a fight against powerful platform players such as Google and Apple, the alliance between carriers has been begun.
Last year, ISIS, the JV between 3 mobile operators sets forth a new NFC business. The JV will distribute infrastructure and launch its first service in the middle of next year. And there is another project called Cityzi which Orange and other players are co-developing in France. The project will expand its service scheme of Nice to a nationwide scale.
From worldwide cases, there are two ways to make a partnership for a NFC business. One way is a JV and the other is an alliance which just discusses about infrastructure and protocol compatibility. It is hard to tell which way is better, but which ever it is, the willingness between parties is important.
Compared to past years, carriers are continuing to lose their power in the mobile service industry as every players are seeking a business chance. Though I don’t know what will be the end of the alliance between mobile operators, I am sure of that a tight partnership and quick response to the market trend are essential for them.