The two-city trial, taking place in Memphis, Tenn., and Jackson, Miss., is a first for a U.S. regional wireless provider. In addition, this is the first mobile wallet trial in the country to engage multiple retailers within a community. More than 75 Cellular South customer participants will test the technology at nearly 50 retail locations - further strengthening Cellular South's position as a wireless innovator driving widespread m-commerce adoption.

Calling on Partners

To bring the WirelessWallet consumer trial to life, Cellular South called on some of the nation's largest mobile payment innovators.

Kyocera Wireless. The WirelessWallet technology uses a handset from Kyocera Wireless, a leading global manufacturer of wireless devices and accessories. The wireless device acts as a digital credit card that allows Cellular South customers to make payments and purchases by simply tapping it against a Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled wireless reader. The company plans to complete the trial by August 2007, with an anticipated widespread consumer roll-out of WirelessWallet in early 2008.

ViVOtech. Cellular South has partnered with ViVOtech to provide the payment software that resides on the handset, the software for over-the-air provisioning of credit cards, smart posters and in-store contactless readers.

The Cellular South WirelessWallet trial is part of a suite of innovative consumer-focused m-commerce solutions. Last month, Cellular South introduced its new mobile payment service called Obopay, which allows customers the ability to instantly and effortlessly receive, send and spend money directly from their wireless device to anyone, anywhere, anytime. With Obopay's user-friendly features, users can check account balances, get money owed from other mobile users, and view transaction histories, as well as invite friends to use the service.