Cellphones-as-Travelcards Tested in Finland

Tampere in Finland is hopping in bed with Nokia and Baltic telecoms operator TeliSonera--to test a cellphone-based system for hopping onto the city's public transportation network.

TietoEnator has developed a self-service entity to the web services of the Tampere City public transport. It allows the passenger to load a desired amount of value to a phone supporting the travel card functionality and pay for the value loaded. The web service works together with the management system provided by TeliaSonera and thus also makes it possible to manage the travel card on the Internet.

London's successful mass-deployment of RFID-based travelcards grew to epic proportions fast, with millions of commuters now flashing their contact-free flexible friends to get onto the Underground. How long will it be before deals are cut to give handset makers access to this system (and others like it), letting them resell top-ups and subscriptions through the web? Licensing out the whole damn boat to anyone who meets the requirements is an obvious free money machine, and one that credit card providers are already trialing. Wired's been keeping an eye on similar developments since 2004, so it's about time the wheeling and dealing fell into place.

Pictured is Tampere's exciting public transportation office.

Mobile phones tested as travel card. [4Hoteliers]