T-Mobile has selected Gemalto to supply its Trusted Service Manager (TSM) platform for the group-wide deployment of NFC-based services. The vendor says it will support the launch of NFC across the operator’s major European markets, starting in Poland.

Gemalto says T-Mobile in Poland will start the upgrade to new NFC-based SIMs before the end of 2012 as a preparation for the launch of new services. The vendor is supplying the new SIMs as well as mobile wallet software and the TSM.

The same vendor earlier this week announced a similar contract with Vodafone which is planning to launch its mobile wallet in several countries early next year.

The current Gemalto announcement is consistent with the earlier schedule laid out by T-Mobile in July when it unveiled a partnership with MasterCard to develop NFC-based mobile payments. An initial deployment in Poland will be followed by a German launch in 2013 of SIM-based mobile wallet, the partners said at the time.

Poland has a relatively high deployment of contactless technology and so is seen by mobile operators as a possible forerunner for other European markets in deploying NFC. T-Mobile will face competition from Orange which is launching NFC-based services in Poland this week.

Although both T-Mobile and Vodafone contracts involve the supply of its TSM platform, Gemalto is actually supplying different products to its two customers. The vendor is delivering tis LinqUs platform to T-Mobile and its Allynis platform to Vodafone. Both are taking its UpTeq range of NFC-enabled SIM cards.