LIVE FROM GSMA MOBILE ASIA CONGRESS 2011: The GSMA this morning announced that 45 global mobile operators are now signed up to “support and implement” SIM-based NFC services.

Pledging their support for the first time are China’s two largest mobile operators, China Mobile and China Unicom, which together account for nearly 800 million connections in the country.

“China Mobile is able to offer SIM-based NFC on an extremely large scale and we have the experience, the technical infrastructure and trusted customer care network to support and effectively stimulate the market,” said China Mobile’s Sha Yuejia.

Unicom’s Lu Yimin said that “we strongly support SIM-based NFC technology that can ensure contactless services are available to our consumers, and will be interoperable and roam effectively wherever the consumer chooses to go.”

The GSMA has separately published a set of industry specifications, which define common handset APIs to support SIM-based NFC services.

“With the increasing deployment of commercial SIM-based NFC services in a range of markets worldwide, it is critical to embrace common standards that will promote the global interoperability of services and accelerate time-to-market,” commented Anne Bouverot, the GSMA’s Director General. 

According to research firm Strategy Analytics, nearly 1.5 billion SIM-based NFC handsets will have been sold worldwide between 2010 and 2016, supporting transactions of more than US$50 billion globally over the same period. In addition, ABI Research indicates that 85 percent of all new POS terminals shipped in 2016 will be NFC-enabled. 

In addition to China Mobile and China Unicom, the operators who have committed to SIM-based NFC include: América Móvil, AT&T, AVEA, Axiata, AXIS, Bharti Airtel, Bouygues Telecom, CSL, Deutsche Telekom, Elisa Corporation, Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (du), Etisalat, Everything Everywhere, Globe Telecom, KPN, KT Corporation, Maxis, Mobily, MTS, Orange, Proximus, Qtel Group, Rogers Communications, Saudi Telecom Company (STC), SFR, SK Telecom, Smart, SOFTBANK MOBILE, Telecom Italia, Telecom New Zealand, Telecom Slovenije, Telefónica, Telekom Austria Group, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Telus, TMN, Turkcell, Verizon, VimpelCom, VIVA Bahrain and Vodafone Group.

ISIS, the US joint venture formed by AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and Verizon Wireless to build a nationwide m-commerce network in the United States, also supports SIM-based NFC.