The GSMA, a global trade group for the mobile industry, has called for full NFC functionality to be built into commercially available mobile handsets from mid-2009.

The association says that NFC - Near Field Communications - functionality must include the standardized Single Wire Protocol interface.

The GSMA's goal is to ensure that consumers can reap the benefits of mobile payment services as soon as possible.

A spokesman was not available at press time.

The GSMA's board, meeting this week in Macau, China, fully supports the need for the European Telecommunications Standards Institute or ETSI-endorsed Single Wire Protocol standard to provide the interface between the Universal Integrated Circuit Card -- UICC, or SIM card -- and the embedded NFC chipset within the handset.

The NFC chip can communicate with existing contactless readers to deliver a wide range of secure, interoperable and transparent services such as credit and debit payments.

A series of operator trials under the GSMA's 'Pay-Buy-Mobile' initiative have demonstrated that consumers can use UICC-based NFC handsets to quickly, easily and securely pay for goods and services in shops, restaurants and train stations, according to the association.

There is a huge latent demand for a large variety of mobile transaction services.

The GSMA says that it is committed to ensuring that mobile payment services are delivered as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.

However, this will require device manufacturers to make sure that the vast majority of commercially available handsets incorporate the Single Wire Protocol and Near Field Communications features as standard.

Doing so would enable the industry to leverage significant economies of scale, and ensure greater accessibility of NFC services for mobile consumers, per the GSMA.

There is growing interest in proximity payments, and various trials have been run worldwide.

This call for handsets is supported by recent carrier trial results, which indicate a growing consumer demand for mobile payment services.

Trials are underway across eight countries involving nine mobile carriers as part of the GSMA's Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative.

Further pilots are planned across 14 countries by 15 mobile carriers.

In Taiwan, in a trial of more than 200 users, FarEasTone found that 90 percent of people felt positive toward to this new service.

Eighty percent of people were satisfied that the service is secure, and 40 percent said they would switch their monthly spending to a mobile credit card service.

Seven banks and four carriers, including Orange and SFR, involved in the "Payez Mobile" trial in France have announced the results of trials conducted with almost 500 sales outlets and nearly 1000 trial participants.

More than 90 percent of trial participants said they found contactless mobile payment convenient, fast and easy to use.

In addition, 94 percent declared that they would recommend it to their friends and family.

Merchants welcomed the possibility of offering to their customers an innovative payment solution, with more than 80 percent saying they appreciated the speed and cutting-edge appeal of mobile contactless payment.

Equally, in South Korea, SKT and KTF found that mobile transportation was very popular with consumers, and this is likely to translate to other mobile payment services.

Approximately 450,000 users of the "T-money" service were quick to adopt the service, as it is convenient and compatible with existing readers.

According to KTF's survey, 85 percent of mobile transportation users indicated satisfaction levels were "very high."

Eighty-five percent of them believe that using a contactless mobile phone is much more convenient than getting their wallet out to use public transportation, and would continue to use the mobile service.

T-money attracts users not only for the public metro and bus, but also for small transactions such as buying goods from convenient stores by simply tapping on the contactless readers.

In July the GSMA, on behalf of carriers, issued a detailed Device Requirement document to a wide range of vendors and suppliers in the 'Pay-Buy-Mobile' ecosystem.

Thirty-seven key players responded, giving a clear picture of the core requirements for any SWP/NFC device.

Countries where trials are being held include Australia, Canada, France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Taiwan, Turkey and the United States.

The GSMA has published two white papers at http://www.gsmworld.com, one of which sets out several business models that can support a mobile payment service and another which offers version two of the GSMA's technical guidelines for NFC.

The Pay-Buy-Mobile initiative builds on the infrastructure of the major credit card companies, which have developed specifications to ensure global interoperability between contactless chip cards and point of sale terminals, regardless of manufacturer, the financial institution and location of transaction.

The GSMA is working closely with leading financial intermediaries and banks to promote globally interoperable transaction solutions.

Both MasterCard and Visa are supporting the trials with their PayPass and Visa payWave features, respectively, that enable NFC-equipped phones to effect payment transactions at secure contactless point of sale terminals.

In September the GSMA signed a memorandum of understanding with EMVCo, operated by JCB International, MasterCard Worldwide and Visa Inc., to share information.

LG, Motorola, Nokia, Sagem and Samsung are among the handset makers developing phones for NFC-enabled mobile payment services.

Gemalto, G&D and KEBT are among the UICC card suppliers supporting NFC-enabled mobile payment services.

Also, Vivotech and Harex are among the companies developing NFC-enabled readers that support NFC-enabled mobile payment services.

The information received by the GSMA has been incorporated into a second version of a Device Requirement Document, which will provide a common set of requirements for SWP/NFC devices.

This is intended to make it easier for manufacturers to mass produce devices and to improve global interoperability of SWP/NFC handsets.

The GSM Association is the global trade association representing more than 700 GSM mobile phone carriers across 218 countries and territories of the world.

In addition, more than 200 manufacturers and suppliers support the association's initiatives as key partners.

The association's members serve more than 3.4 billion customers -- 85 percent of the world's mobile phone users.