Toshiba plans to complete the final development of the new card by Q3 2009, when it expects to start providing samples of the card to mobile operators worldwide. The company will exhibit the card and provide full details at the GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009, to be held in Barcelona, Spain, between 16 and 19 February.
Toshibas USIM card meets the latest specifications of the European Telecommunications Standards Institute-Smart Card Platform (ETSI SCP) and of the global trade association for mobile operators GSM Association (GSMA) and it is also compatible with the GSMAs Pay-Buy-Mobile global mobile payments initiative. The GSMA supports the need for the ETSI-endorsed Single Wire Protocol (SWP) standard to provide the interface between the Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC, or SIM card) and the embedded NFC chipset within the handset.
The GSMA recommended at the end of 2008 that mobile phone manufacturers integrate full NFC functionality into commercially available mobile phones from mid-2009. However, a research done by IMS research suggests that SWP-based NFC phones supported by the GSMA will not be on the market in significant volumes until 2011 and beyond. Separately, a study conducted by Gartner indicates that NFC-based and NFC related services are not expected to become common before 2011 in mature markets such as Western Europe and the US.
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