South Korean carrier rolling out ‘Apple-certified’ NFC case and service for iPhone

While we might not see NFC integrated by Apple into the iPhone for a generation or two, South Korean carrier KT is taking matters into their own hands and has announced their plans to roll out their own NFC service and accompanying case for the iPhone. The iPhone 4 case is called the iCarte and and was developed by a Canadian company called Wireless Dynamics. A KT executive commented on the plans:

With the recent launch of NFC-enabled smart(phones), iPhone users were showing increasing needs for NFC services, Hyunmi Yang, executive vice president for integrated customer strategy at KT, said in a statement. As a global leader of NFC services, KT plans to provide more convenient and differentiated NFC services to its customers.

This NFC case will give KT iPhone customers the opportunity to finally use their iPhone 4 as their digital wallet. KT’s service will also include a pre-paid “transit card” so users could use their iPhone with the NFC case as their point of payment for transportation. Credit card companies in Korea are expected to jump on board the new iPhone-based service next month. KT says they expect the iPhone to gain an integrated NFC chip next year.