 communication'. There is an international standard ISO14443 for contactless smart cards, also known as RF tags, operating at 13.56 MHz, close to the GSM clock reference at 13 MHz. The devices are ASK or BPSK modulated, either passive (load modulation) or active with a range from 0 to 200 millimetres. There are 4 types of contactless smart card (tag) categories determined by memory footprint and transfer speed detailed in Table 19.2. In the UK, every time you use a London Train and Underground Oyster Card4 the 13.56-MHz transmitter in the oyster terminal device at the turnstile is irradiating your 'smart' oyster card with RF energy, your oyster card then uses this energy to transmit your ID back to the device. 4 http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14836.aspx. Making Telecoms Work Table 19.2 Contactless smart cards Tag type Memory 64 kb Data rate 106 kbps 106 kbps 212 kbps 106-424 kbps In 2006, when we first researched this topic there was no compelling technical reason why this function could not be included as a mobile phone function. It could be passive or active and unidirectional or bidirectional. If bidirectional, the phone could read information stored at the turnstile (time tables, delays, special travel offers) and of course the cost of any transaction would just be added to the monthly phone bill. Five years on, NFC-enabled handsets are available and applications are finally beginning to emerge. The lesson here is that fast innovation adoption only happens when there are tangible benefits to all parties in the value chain. In this example, there is clearly user value in terms convenience but the mobile-phone operator has become an intermediary in a transaction that has cost and risk with income going to a third party (the train company). In the end, if there is a genuinely compelling user experience benefit then the innovation will happen, but much more slowly than people generally appreciate. The same lag effect meant that the Memory Spot and Mu products were never a commercial success. The devices potentiall