East Japan Railway Co. hopes to launch a new service as early as autumn 2005 that will allow mobile phone users to pass through ticket gates by pressing their handsets lightly against gate scanners, the company said Tuesday.
The new service, dubbed Mobile Suica, can be used in the same manner as the Suica integrated-circuit card, on which users can charge ticket fees.
Prospective users can access the new service by buying new handsets featuring built-in IC chips, company official said.
More than 8 million Suica cards have been issued since the system's launch in November 2001. The cards can now be used for shopping and dining at selected JR East train stations.
In addition to the functions of the Suica card, Mobile Suica users will also be able to use their cell phones as commuter passes and bullet-train tickets via online transactions, the officials said.
JR East is jointly developing IC chip-equipped mobile phones with NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.