Gavitec Brings Mobile Ticketing To Philippines

Together with the Philippine’s mobile marketing specialist Omniprime, Gavitec AG - mobile digit, a NeoMedia Technologies company, launched, under intense media interest, a mobile ticketing system for Manila’s major public transportation line MRT3.

With over 1 billion text messages sent every day, the mobile phone is the most commonly used means of communication in the Philippines. From now on, the mobile phone will play an even more important role: in cooperation with Omniprime, Gavitec AG - mobile digit, implemented a mobile ticketing system for the Manila Metro Rail Transit System, popularly known as the MRT, Metrostar Express, or Metrostar. MRT3 is the major public transport line in Manila with 180 million passengers each year. The three largest national mobile phone operators Smart, Globe and Sun are aboard as well to support the new mobile ticketing system. NeoMedia’s Gavitec agreed to a contract of $1.3 million over a duration of 3 years.

The main goal of the innovative mobile ticketing system is to provide instant MRT3 tickets. Passengers receive their passes via text message in the form of a two-dimensional barcode directly to their mobile phone. Prior to travel, each code is read and validated by Gavitec scanners. The advantage is that over half of the Philippines’ 70 million residents use their cell phone as their primary means of communication. Traveling is now easier, quicker and cashless, therefore reducing long queues of passengers.

For mobile solutions based on text and picture messages, the Philippines are the ideal location. “The circumstances given in the Philippines hold a considerable potential for development for mobile marketing. We are very pleased to again prove the established performance of the Gavitec technology with the implementation of this mobile ticketing project for MRT3,“ emphasized the CEO of NeoMedia’s Gavitec AG – mobile digit, Dr. Christian Steinborn.

Simeon Kintanar, chairman of Omniprime Marketing Inc. and former president of the Philippines’ National Telecommunications Commission, and committee chairman of the House of Representatives for telecommunications, explains the decision for partnering with NeoMedia’s Gavitec, "this project is top priority for Omniprime. Due to the high reliability and quality of the Gavitec technology, and following our long and in-depth testing phase, we knew that partnering with NeoMedia’s Gavitec was good for both our companies."

Gavitec’s flexible and easy-to-use technology offers many advantages such as new channels of distribution, a more targeted and directed sales approach and precise response evaluation. The capabilities of the Gavitec product range allow for many other mobile marketing applications: For example, different data contents like tickets, coupons or discount vouchers can be encrypted in the form of two-dimensional codes and sent to mobile phones via SMS. The code appears in the mobile phone display and is then read by Gavitec scanners (EXIO or MD-20). Codes are automatically and securely validated against a database via GPRS. Gavitec’s code-reading technology turns the mobile phone into an ideal platform for the transfer and verification of electronic tickets.