NFC Times Exclusive – TAIPEI, Taiwan – Gemalto announced this week that it is providing NFC SIM cards for Chunghwa Telecom’s commercial launch of NFC services, but availability of the SIMs to the telco’s subscribers are extremely limited and none of the telco’s shops or service centers currently have the cards, NFC Times has learned.

Gemalto announced Tuesday that its “UpTeq multitenant” NFC SIM stores a MasterCard PayPass credit card application and a Mifare transit purse, which is being issued by Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest mobile operator. The telco launched service in October. 

But as NFC Times reported in October, Chunghwa Telecom said the price Gemalto was charging for its NFC SIM cards was a problem, and this might be part of the reason the number of SIMs are limited.