Gemalto is supplying China Telecom with its UpTeq Multi-Tenant NFC SIM to support their commercial rollout of near field communication services. China Telecom is a mobile operator in China with more than 183 million subscribers. The SIM is embedded with Gemalto’s LTE management software, enabling China Telecom subscribers to enjoy NFC services with the convenience and speed of mobile broadband.

China Telecom subscribers will be able to choose from multiple types of NFC-enabled mobile phones to make payments for transportation, dining, shopping and petrol throughout the country. Airport check-ins, personal authentication services and employee ID services will be introduced in the future. The Gemalto UpTeq Multi-Tenant NFC SIM has been specially developed and customized by Gemalto for China Telecom.

China has a population of 1.4 billion, half of whom now live in urban areas. This concentration of populations in mega-cities means users have more services to access, while the speed of daily life demands fast NFC solutions.

At the same time, China’s banking services are moving to EMV, especially in its contactless form, with more than 400 million contactless chip payment cards issued at the end of 2013. China Telecom’s NFC rollout is happening just as the contactless ecosystem is being deployed. As most mega-cities are already equipped with contactless transport infrastructures, millions of China Telecom subscribers will soon be able to use their mobile phones to pay for everyday services, including riding the metro.

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