From next year, Telecom Italia subscribers will be able to use a new generation of SIM card to purchase train and bus tickets, parking, theatre seats, concert tickets and hotel rooms from their mobile phone. For the launch of the service, the mobile operator has partnered with Movincom, an Italian consortium of companies and service providers working to promote mobile retailing.

Exactly how the new service works is not completely clear - but we will be publishing more details as soon as we have been able to get more information from Telecom Italia.

Here's how the official announcement explains things:

Starting in 2010, Telecom Italia will be building in an ad hoc application into its new Sim cards. Using this application, directly from their mobile phones, customers will be able to buy tickets for public transport and trains, pay for parking, purchase ski passes, buy tickets for a night out at the theatre or other events, and book hotel rooms.

Payment for these services will make use of methods offered by banks who sign up to the venture.

Using a SAT (SIM Application Toolkit) technology solution developed by Telecom Italia, this mobile commerce solution ensures high standards of security and authenticates the phone number from which each transaction originates. Specific menus integrated directly into the Sim card will guide customers through the process and make it quick and easy to make purchases. Orders placed for goods or services are dispatched by a text message generated automatically by the application. The text message features the purchaser’s cellphone number but no sensitive data about the selected method of payment.

The configuration-free service will be available on all mobile phones. It will be possible to update the service at any time, as and when new goods and services are added.

The Movincom Consortium currently has more than 650 operational services on board, a figure that is destined to rise to over 1,500 services in seven different market sectors. The consortium currently has the following members: Trenitalia, GTT (Turin), CTM Cagliari, 5T (Turin), Ataf (Florence), ATV (Verona), AMT Genova, TEP Parma, Ne-t (Gruppo APS Padua), Mobilità e Parcheggi (L’Aquila), Firenze Parcheggi, Telepark, Teleparking, CLUB Italia, AIPARK, ANAV, SIB - Società Impianti Bormio, Madonna di Campiglio, Monterosa ski, Funivie San Bernardo - La Thuile, Pila, Cervinia, Funivie Courmayeur Mont Blanc, Vittoria Assicurazioni, Coris Broker - 24h Assistance, Fratelli Carli, Charta-Vivaticket, BOL.it (the Mondadori Group’s online bookshop), SMS Hotels and Gruppo Prima. Many more companies are in the process of signing up.

“After becoming an indispensable personal communications tool,” says Oscar Cicchetti, Manager of Telecom Italia’s Domestic Market Operations, “the mobile phone is transitioning into a personal gateway to the internet, content and services, ranging from information to entertainment and professional applications. Leveraging the potential of the latest SIM cards and terminals, mobile phones are poised to become a powerful and secure transactions and identity management tool too. Today’s agreement paves the way for this by offering a broad range of services and a secure, straightforward and intuitive method for making purchases.”

“We know that security and a user-friendly purchase experience are vital to the development of mobile commerce via mobile phones. This agreement with Telecom Italia is a major step in that direction,” says Enrico Sponza, Deputy Chairman of the Movincom Consortium. “Banks will have access to an integrated set of operational processes and be able to fast track their entry into the mobile payment business.”

GuestLogix, the market leader in the supply of onboard retail solutions to airlines, is adding contactless payments acceptance to its point-of-service handheld devices and its retail transaction platform.

"The company's move to contactless and near field communications technologies opens the door to more secure and much faster payments onboard," says GuestLogix. "Flight attendants will be able to process sales in less time versus traditional handling while airlines will be able to greatly reduce credit card related fraud."

"Our new support for third generation payment technologies effectively changes the playing field for onboard retailing and merchandising," says Tom Douramakos, President and CEO of GuestLogix. "Carriers can now accomplish more sales in less time during flight without incurring additional risk."

Gemalto's Taiwan-based data centre has achieved certification by MasterCard for its Trusted Service Manager (TSM) solution for NFC services.

"MasterCard works alongside vendors to offer secure NFC payment solutions to its issuing banks," says Andrew Smith, vice president at MasterCard's Mobile Centre of Excellence, Asia/Pacific, Middle East & Africa. "We are pleased to collaborate with technological enablers like Gemalto that will allow financial institutions to rollout NFC MasterCard PayPass mobile services safely, adding ease to Taiwanese consumers` fast-paced lifestyles and spurring the growth of contactless payments in the market."

"The role of the Trusted Services Manager is to provide independent, secure channels for service providers to conveniently engage their customer base into the mobile world," added Tan Teck Lee, President of Gemalto Asia. "It is a role built on security, interoperability and trust, which facilitates business between mobile network operators and service providers."

www.gemalto.com, www.mastercard.com

The NFC trial is taking place a year later than originally planned, Digi.no reports (in Norwegian), and a commercial launch is still expected to be two to three years away.

The telecoms giant has opted for an RF SIM-based solution (using SIM cards embedded with a second, contactless chipset) for its new mobile payments service, not #NFC, according to a report in Interfax-China (subscription required). More details soon...

The US electronic payments association has issued a Request for Comment concerning plans to change its operating rules to provide a framework for emerging mobile payments applications. Full details on NACHA's website.

Starbucks has launched a new 2D barcode-based app that lets users make payments with their iPhone at 16 stores in the Seattle and Silicon Valley areas using a mobile version of their Starbucks Card. More at ReadWriteWeb.

Credit Valtellina already issues contactless Visa PayWave cards in Italy's Sondrio province under the Tellcard brand name. Now it is testing NFC with Visa Europe, in a small scale trial involving fifty of the bank's employees. More (in Italian) in Cellulare Magazine.

New research report from IE Market Research Corp breaks down the total forecast into merchandise purchases, digital purchases, ticketing, money transfers, bill payment, and prepaid top-ups. The forecast is also split into SMS, WAP/Web, USSD and NFC. Full details here.

The rollout of contactless payments is gathering pace in Australia, with 500 merchants in Melbourne set to install contactless terminals this month. The transaction limit is being increased to A$100, with no PIN required — expanding the use of contactless transactions beyond the small purchase levels previously set in Australia and elsewhere. The new limit means consumers will be able to pay by contactless (and, later, by NFC) for their fuel purchases as well as for coffees and other quick serve items. Will other countries follow? Read the full annoucement from Visa Australia here.