INSIDE Contactless empowers new generation NFC payment project with carrier Far EasTone in Taiwan

INSIDE Contactless empowers new generation NFC payment project with carrier Far EasTone in Taiwan

Innovative Beep ‘N Go project by FET involves panel of 200 and expands the features of mobile phones to those of a credit card, an e-coupon or even a door key

Aix en Provence, France, November 7th, 2007–INSIDE Contactless, a world leader of contactless semiconductor chips, today announced that its MicroRead® platform has been selected as the preferred NFC chip for Mobile carrier Far East Tone’s new Pay-Buy Mobile testing project. The pilot, named as “Beep ‘N Go”, will involve a panel of 200 local users by the end of 2007, and is set to anticipate real-size commercial rollout in early 2008.

By providing state of the art, standardized technology, INSIDE Contactless has brought a major contribution to the Beep ‘N Go project, enabling the mobile phone to become a multi-usage personal tool, thanks to a Universal Subscriber Identity Module-based solution equipped with cutting-edge NFC technology.

“We are pleased to be working with INSIDE for what is anticipated to be one of the most compelling user experience for NFC payment business,” said Roger Chen, VP of Business Development & Multi-media Services, Corporate Strategy & Development FarEastTone. “INSIDE’s technology delivers a standard based technology that delivers the flexibility, reliability and performance needed to support the more advanced services, and we’re confident that this will lead to future extended mobile payment initiatives in this part of the world.”

“INSIDE’s involvement in Beep ‘N Go is a new demonstration of the company’s capacity to integrate large scale, multi-vendor successful initiatives,” explained Mr Goh Say Yeow, EVP of Sales and Managing Director for Asia Pacific. “NFC is maturing as a trusted payment and services approach, and we’re very enthusiastic about the whole industry movement in offering consumers a completely new and fun converged experience for their mobile phone” he added.

INSIDE’s MicroRead’s SIM friendly solution for NFC payments connects the NFC chip to the SIM card using the industry standard SWP protocol, which was a strong prerequisite in the Beep’N Go project. Additionally, MicroRead’s “battery off” mode enables the NFC and SIM power supplies to be generated from the antenna RF field, to ensure that contactless transactions can be made, even when the handset battery is flat.

INSIDE’s MicroRead® has been selected to establish secure connections between devices, and to facilitate mobile payments, transport ticketing, service discovery, access control, and other transactions from mobile phones marketed by commercial vendors..

About INSIDE Contactless

As the only fabless semiconductor company focused exclusively upon contactless chip platforms, INSIDE Contactless is a market leader in Near Field Communication (NFC), contactless payments, and access control. Innovation in contactless technology has led to essential NFC technology patents granted to INSIDE along with more than 55 other patents. INSIDE is the #1 market share company in contactless payment market in the US with more than 20 million chip platforms delivered to card manufacturer partners and more than 12 leading bank card issuers. More than 25 key partners around the world, including major card manufacturers and handset providers, have successfully delivered contactless products such as payment & access cards, point of sale terminals, NFC enabled mobile handsets, and other products which are ‘powered by INSIDE’. INSIDE Contactless is headquartered in Aix-en-Provence, France, with offices in Shanghai, Singapore, Poland, San Francisco, and Boston. For more information, please visit http://www.insidecontactless.com.

About Far EasTone Telecommunications Co., Ltd.

Far EasTone Telecommunications is a leading wireless service provider in Taiwan and continues to introduce attractive rate plans, full-line products and services for enriching the lives of people. With the convergence of services in media and telecom industry, FET expands its scope and vision to become a leading full service provider for electronic communication, information, entertainment, and transaction. FET is offering an innovative environment for superior shareholder value, customer loyalty, employee satisfaction and community involvement.

Media Contact

Jean-Marie Amoros
AxiCom France
+33 1 41 06 18 05

Elise Koenig
AxiCom France
+33 1 41 06 18 07