M-commerce partnership receives EC approval

Tuesday, September 11, 2012 - 11:29 by Simon Crisp

The European Commission (EC) has given its blessing to an arrangement, which will see Vodafone, O2 and Everything Everywhere join forces, to offer m-commerce and mobile payments to customers in the UK.

These three firms hold sway over the lion's share of mobile subscribers in Britain, so it was necessary for regulators to consider the implications of this new move, when it comes to competition within the m-commerce market.

Three, the UK's smallest network provider, was the biggest critic of the plans, but it seems that the EC's investigations have proven that the project, codenamed Oscar, is satisfactory.

In essence, the trio of networks want to make sure that they control a consistent and cohesive m-commerce market, which will include things like mobile payments made via NFC chips and also marketing campaigns operated on mobile platforms.

More and more UK consumers are using their phones to make purchases via safe shopping online, which is why so much interest is being focused on the m-commerce market at the moment.

While a small percentage of all online shopping is carried out via mobiles at the moment, this is expected to double within two years, according to a recent report from auction site, eBay.

Of course, most companies are looking to get control over as much of this growing market as possible, which means that there are going to be ongoing concerns about whether or not some companies will be able to get a monopoly over a market, making it a bad situation for their rivals and shoppers alike.

Safe shopping online is not limited only to devices when using smartphones and tablets, because the emergence of NFC technology means that in-store purchases are increasingly made from mobiles. This brings questions over security to the table, which is why as much external intervention as possible will help to keep customers safe.