NeoMedia kicks off huge mobile barcode alliance with Bems and Telefónica

A three-way deal for mobile barcodes has just been announced for 12 countries in Latin America. Spanish based barcode company Bems has become the exclusive partner of Telefónica for 2d barcodes in Latin America. And Bems has partnered with NeoMedia for the 4 year deal, which will see NeoMedia technology, platforms, barcode readers and campaign management at the centre of the Telefónica drive.

What’s the deal?

Bems is a widely used barcodes platform in Spain. Government institutes and international brands alike have come to the company - and the deal with Telefónica will see it create new services in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Venezuela and Uruguay. NeoMedia is providing a lot of the infrastructure for this deal, and is pretty deep in the implementation. Not only Bems using NeoMedia tech for the managament of the barcode campaigns (including advertising and marketing), but Bems will be promoting NeoMedia for mobile ticketing and mobile coupon. In addition the NeoMedia barcode reader, NeoReader, will be coming pre-installed on Telefónica devices.

As part of it’s general philosophy of openness in barcoding, NeoMedia will be implementing the GSMA standards on interoperability for its Latin American barcoding. Bems is just as eager as NeoMedia to ensure that everyone in Latin America, including operators, manufacturers, developers, advertisers and even other barcode providers can easily make use of the technology - to help create a good barcode ecosystem that everyone can benefit from.

From the release:

Javier Mañas, Chairman of Bems: “The alliance with NeoMedia represents an important step towards delivering the best technology to Bems and providing an advantaged position in the implementation of the agreements with Telefónica for the Latin-American market.”

Iain McCready, CEO of NeoMedia: “As we’ve consistently maintained, commercialization of barcodes calls for an open and interoperable market that can provide the scale ne eded for brands and advertisers to exploit the benefits of the mobile marketplace. We feel that our work with Bems and gaining entry to the Latin American market is yet another step closer to global adoption of this powerful technology.”

What we think?

This is a big deal - Bems has a lot of experience in creating different kinds of barcode campaign, and NeoMedias pedigree is well-established. We can expect to see every kind of barcode implementation coming from this deal, from advertising, ticketing and coupons through to shopping and others. It’s good to see a multi-national deal being planned with standardisation in mind. Of course, it’s easy to talk about openness and interoperability when you’re one of the first in the door.