Manchester City Trials NFC Technology

Imagine being able to wave your mobile phone and gain entry to a sporting event or concert. For a few season ticket holders of English Premier Leaguesoccer club Manchester City, that’s already reality.   The club has partnered with Orange to trial near fieldcommunications (NFC) technology, meaning users will be able to use their mobiles the way people use smartcards.   The club’s ground was fitted for NFC four years ago. So far 20 SonyEricsson handsets featuring NFC-enabled SIM cardshave been given to season ticket holders, but it’s expected that the service will be full operational by 2009.   According to a report onITPro, Duncan Martin, head of retail for Manchester City, said,   "Mobile contactless services will offer many advantages to our fans, includingloyalty schemes and discount vouchers. NFC technology also allows us to build a closer affinity with fans and offer them more than just football. By linking this technology to our customer database,we will use this valuable trial data to analyze customer demand, create more targeted campaigns for our most loyal fans and tackle wider issues such as ticket touting and crowd security. The netresult will be a much richer matchday experience for our fans."   This is the first NFC trial in the UK, but successful ones have already been conducted in several locations in France.