In its latest push to drive wireless platforms beyond horoscopes and news,
Ericsson has launched a Mobile Commerce Platform to provide a secure
solution for operators to deliver their own m-commerce services.
The new platform, which Ericsson expects to make commercially available in
the second quarter of this year, includes modules for access, payment and
security. It enables network operators and service providers to offer secure
payment services for m-commerce transactions, leaving them only with the
issue of how to present these services to the user.
The Mobile Commerce Platform supports Jalda, a payment technology developed
by Ericsson/Hewlett-Packard joint venture EHPT. The technology enables micro
and session-based payments from fixed and mobile devices, and in real terms
means that an operator can charge for both site content and for goods and
services promoted through a site. This more flexible approach allows
Internet companies to charge for site content in a similar model adopted by
organisations such as US publication The Wall Street Journal.
The platform has evolved from EHPT9s SafeTrader and Ericsson9s Mobile e-Pay,
that incorporate security functions from password verification to Wireless
Public Key Infrastructure
The Mobile Commerce Platform is a key component of Ericsson9s Internet
Services Platform, an end-to-end service creation solution designed to help
operators and service providers deliver mobile Internet services to their
markets.
Ericsson also sees the Mobile Commerce Platform as a logical step towards
the greater role it predicts mobile devices will play in the way users
interact with the Internet. 3We are giving customers a solid foundation for
creating new value by offering services to cater for the rapid growth we
expect to see in m-commerce worldwide,2 said Lars Boman, president of
Ericsson Internet Applications of the company9s drive towards mobile
applications.
Some of the applications Ericsson envisions the market using include
personalisable services that require a secure link between customer and
merchant, such as banking, ticket purchasing, shopping, gaming and betting.
The platform will also offer an end user online service function called
mCare that will provide context-sensitive help with using the mobile
Internet.
The Mobile Commerce Platform is ready for General Packet Radio Service
(GPRS), which is being rolled out by operators as a step towards 3G.
Ericsson has also made Application Programming Interfaces for the solution
available via free download to developers, through its Ericsson Developers
Zone.
