TeliaSonera in NFC pilot – mobiles replace hotel key

​In line with TeliaSonera’s growth strategy to further develop the online society a pilot for replacing hotel room keys with mobile phones starts at Clarion Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden. 

Five companies have joined forces to replace hotel room keys with NFC-enabled mobile phones including ASSA ABLOY, Choice Hotels Scandinavia, TeliaSonera, Venyon and VingCard Elsafe. The technology makes it possible for hotel guests to check-in and out using their mobile phones.

- At TeliaSonera, we are looking at many ways of using the mobile phone to make our customers’ lives easier. The NFC technology, along with other inbuilt technologies, brings a new dimension to the mobile device which opens new growth opportunities, says Johan Wickman, Head of Research and Innovation at TeliaSonera Mobility Services.

Learn from customer feeback
The goal of the pilot at Clarion Hotel Stockholm is to get feedback from guests and employees using the NFC phones for a variety of services. Guests will be able to check in to the hotel and receive the hotel room key directly onto their mobile phones before arriving at the hotel. Guests can also access other services via their mobile, and on departure, the check-out process using the phone promises to be easy and stress-free.´

The pilot starts 1 November and will last for four months. The experience gained from the Clarion Hotel Stockholm pilot is planned to be enhanced and expanded over time to other hotels as well as to commercial and residential buildings.

Mobile-contactless services such as payment, ticketing and loyalty have enjoyed successful pilots and are now being made available to the commercial market. Following the success of those pilots there is now a new category of services – mobile keys that can be added to the mobile-contactless industry.

About NFC
NFC, Near Field Communication, is a short-range wireless communication technology standard that enables the exchange of data between devices over up to a 10 cm distance. Applications include contactless transactions such as payment and transit ticketing, keys, data transfers including electronic business cards, and access to online digital content.

About the pilot at Clarion Hotel Stockholm
The selected hotel guests receive a Samsung mobile phone with NFC and relevant software. They book hotel rooms the usual way and receive booking confirmation on the mobile phone. The guests can check in on the mobile phone already before arrival at the hotel. When check-in is complete, a digital hotel room key is delivered to the mobile phone. On arrival at the hotel the guests skip the check-in line, go directly to their room and open the door by holding the mobile phone close to the door lock. When leaving the room, the doors lock automatically, the guests checkout from their mobile phones and the digital hotel room keys are deactivated.

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Forward-Looking Statements
Statements made in the press release relating to future status or circumstances, including future performance and other trend projections are forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements due to many factors, many of which are outside the control of TeliaSonera.

TeliaSonera provides network access and telecommunication services in the Nordic and Baltic countries, the emerging markets of Eurasia, including Russia and Turkey, and in Spain. TeliaSonera is also the leading European wholesale provider of quality cross-border voice, IP and capacity services, with a wholly-owned international carrier network. TeliaSonera’s services help people and companies communicate in an easy, efficient and environmentally friendly way. TeliaSonera creates value by focusing on providing world-class customer experience, securing quality in networks and achieving a best-in-class cost structure. In 2009, TeliaSonera’s net sales amounted to SEK 109 billion, and at the end of December 2009 the total number of subscriptions was 148 million in 20 countries. The TeliaSonera share is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm and NASDAQ OMX Helsinki. Read more at www.teliasonera.com