Smartspace Software Share Discussion Threads

[hebgb] 23/5/2007 21:39

Sounds great – all the OAPs turn up gratis via their bus passes, quids worth of spud finely sliced and deep fried for sustenance and a little something from the colostomy bag to wash it all down.

I think I'll stick to the curled up sandwiches at the AGM.

[spud] 23/5/2007 17:32

Here here - £1 Party at Chez Spud methinks.

spud

[mistertibbs] 23/5/2007 11:02

Got my contract note through this morning, my big 5000 share purchase yesterday so will now be a certificate holder, entitlement to go to agm now. I like the name bigboy. Good stuff re road pricing on BBC news at 6pm last night. It may take about 4 years but as discussed with piggy recently, when the Govt start to put this info in the public domain, the BBC being their spoksperson so to speak, then we know discussions on these matters have been going on behind the scene for some time.

And stop ramping your dodgy shares on this thread. And don't mention who your advisor is or we may see a widespread sale here.

Once again Garth you've given us a great deal of info and reading with the links. Think you deserve a bottle of the finest when this comes good.

[emptypiggy] 22/5/2007 19:33

Mistertibbs
thanks for the mention and you really gonna take me to the agm ??? wheres the bruising bit come in ???? only thing that is bruising at moment is my image scan investment,,, but like you said i`m sitting on my fidgety hands
p.s this is my first posting on advfn i know it is a non info post but hey a guys gotta start somewhere,,,

[garth] 22/5/2007 12:13

Road-charging info:

www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/congestion-charges-technology-trials-091006.pdf

70 page doc though. p38 mentions ITSO/Oyster possibities.

[garth] 22/5/2007 11:43

Further background on Government policy re. Smartcards:

Implementation of smartcards

The TTS Smartcard programme is researching issues around multi-modal transport passes to improve understanding of the opportunities which smartcards can provide, both as a transport-specific service and as a part of wider Government initiatives. A national standard was developed by the Integrated Transport Smartcard Organisation (ITSO), under contract from DfT, and was published in 2004. Evidence is now required on the roll-out of the national standard, which is being achieved through various studies, working in conjunction with ITSO. In 2006, for example, existing ticketing schemes in Cheshire, Nottinghamshire and Southampton will migrate to the national standard, funded by DfT grants to LAs. A further example is the TTS 6-month trial on buses in London (completed in March 2006), using ticketing services piggy-backing on the DfES Connections card.

The use of complementary applications on a single card has the potential to reduce deployment costs, potentially leading to efficiency improvements through the sharing of back-office facilities. There is, however, a need to carefully examine associated data protection aspects.

In the near future (1-5 years), the Smartcard programme has the potential to improve the management of concessionary travel and improve the link between travel demand and the service provided. We will trial multi-modal cards as part of the Yorcard project, and continue research into low-cost smartcards in Cheshire, with potential for temporary, eg tourist, use. Future research will look at closer collaboration across Europe, opportunities for using new technologies emerging from the mobile phone and banking sectors, and a study to investigate 'Be-in Be-out' payment systems (where a passenger's presence is automatically detected). We expect, within this timeframe, to work more closely with Transport Direct, since creating an interface with ticketing infrastructure will enable features such as text size and contrast to be customised, thereby maximising inclusion of users with specific needs. The contact-less interface between card and reader further facilitates use by disabled customers, complying with the Disability Discrimination Act.

[garth] 22/5/2007 07:48

When you look at the costs, the expense of upgrading equipment so as to reduce fraud is probably not really that high a percentage:

Free bus travel for OAPs

An MP has welcomed guaranteed free bus travel across England from next April.
Ian McCartney was speaking as the free bus pass bill received its second reading.
The bill will mean that everyone aged 60 and over, and disabled people, will get free local off-peak travel on all buses.
It implements the chancellor's announcement in the 2006 budget that over 60s and disabled people will get free off-peak travel on all local buses anywhere in England.

Currently, the existing statutory entitlement allows them to travel for free but only on buses in their local authority area.
Mr McCartney said the Labour Government had put buses at the centre of its transport policy and were now investing over £2.5billion a year in services, up from £1billion in 1997.

The new legislation will:

Guarantee free local bus travel for those eligible from 9.30am until 11pm on weekdays, and all day at weekends and bank holidays, across England.

Wigan Council will continue to offer benefits above the statutory entitlement to their residents, such as travel before 9.30am and concessions on other modes like trams, as well as alternative forms of travel scheme, like tokens for use on taxis.

The Government would provide up to £250m per year to enable 11 million older and disabled people to take advantage of the proposed national concessionary fares scheme. This funding is in addition to £350m that the Government provided this year to enable the move from a half fare waiver on local bus travel for older and disabled people within their local area to a full waiver of the fare, as of April 1 2006.

From April 2008, the Government will be spending around £1billion on concessionary travel.
Ian McCartney said: "It was this Labour Government that established a national minimum standard, replacing the Tories patchy provision. Spending on buses is now £2.5billion, up from £1billion in 1997.
"In Wigan the free bus pass also provides free travel on local rail and metrolink services thanks to the additional support provided by Wigan Metro.
"The Bill will promote social inclusion for older and disabled people in allowing them greater freedom to travel, for free, by local bus."
Last Updated: 21 May 2007

[garth] 21/5/2007 21:33

Sorry Mr Tibbs! The bad ones, are those the stereoscopic ones? Nice narrowing of losses but the sales have been too lumpy for too long on that one. You need X-ray vision to see when they are going to break into profit! Your money looks safer here by far! ;0)

G.

[mistertibbs] 21/5/2007 16:08

If I remember correctly, was there not mention of the healthcare sector? Not being lazy, just distracted with 2 sets of results today, one superb, the other, well, it happens sometimes....that's a double ouch comes to mind for the latter.

....and I like the master bit. Makes me sound a lot younger than I look.

[garth] 21/5/2007 09:57

Mastertibbs,

There was no problem - my comment re. Hitachi was not directed towards your comments in any way. Actually, the two are connected in so far as someone might choose to issue an ITSO compatible travel card on a MULTOS chip carrying Multefile. But for the purpose of evaluating the considerable prospects here, ITSO appears to be one line of pretty visible/secure revenue over the next few years that more than underpins the current valuation. The hitachi contract opens the way for biometric/ID/Passport deals - and that is further upside.

A significant contract/license directly for EMV would be pretty much a full house and global domination ;0)

AGM statement:
We are at an advanced stage with a variety of strategic partners that should result in our technology being incorporated into larger solutions that will be bid into a variety of markets around the World. This includes national
ID cards and global payment cards

G.

[mistertibbs] 20/5/2007 12:29

Sorry if I misled on the Hitachi deal. Excellent report once again Garth. I know what I mean when I say these things but people like yourself know this like the back of your hand and can explain it in detail, clearly, unlike me.

[garth] 19/5/2007 08:34

Peter,

As a follow-up to what I posted yesterday, this white paper on The Future UK (2003) gives excellent attention to exactly what the ISAM is and its importance within the ITSO framework.

www.chyp.com/PubWebFiles/whitepaper/ITSOWhitePaper.pdf

G.

[peterblok] 18/5/2007 15:36

A very useful and comprehensive reply - thank you very much Garth. I am sure that your post will make interesting reading for all those who are not as well informed as you l.t. holders.

I already hold a good few shares and may well add in the near future.

All the best

[garth] 18/5/2007 14:50

Peter,

As Mastertibbs correctly suggests - there is loads of information in the header, links and the thread itself: far more than I can adequately represent in a post.

I will make a brief response though.

As a newcomer and non-techie, can you tell me what system Ken Livingstone uses for London smartcards,
Oyster
Ken Livingston uses Oyster in London and is fairly evangelical about it! It is provided by a consortium, Transys. Core to that consortium is Cubic. They seem to be the expertise behind Oyster. Clrealy there is money to be made from the spread of Oyster. Fares in London have been increased for ticket holders but held low for Oyster carriers. Oyster is prepaid and used on the underground and buses. Oyster has recently been licensed to Barclaycard for a dual-interface card.

and if not ITSO, if and when this would be likely to be changed to ITSO.
Oyster-ITSO interoperability

ITSO was in development when Transport for London (TFL) took the Oyster route. It was a matter of record that the DfT's own standard would have to be provided for when available. That DfT standard became ITSO.

The whole idea of interoperable smartcards for transport is that a customer can buy a card anywhere and travel anywhere with the approriate fare being charged and remuneration be passed to the appropriate travel providers.

With trains running into and out of London, Oyster needs to talk to ITSO. The Government has allocated £millions to the task of making Oyster compatible with ITSO. Compatibility has already been proven in trials (with some outstanding issues left to be overcome). Cubic is involved in this process, as are Ecebs (SMRT). The Government has pledged to deliver full operation interoperability by January (I believe) 2009. This is the point at which Rail operators are being required to provide ITSO smartcard ticketing on their networks. In reality the task needs to be done sooner with the Concessionary Bus Travel Bill starting in a year's time. The Government is stumping up hundreds of £millions to pay for the CBTB and to share the cost of updating ticketing equipment. It is in their interests to do this in order to protect Local Government from fraudulent concessionary travel claims.

The upshot is that there will be Oyster-ITSO readers. Cubic already provide ITSO readers.

How many other companies are there who supply using the ITSO system ?
If click the ITSO icon in the header you will be taken to the ITSO website - that has a comprehensive list of members and providers.

and where does SMRT stand in the pecking order
Through their operating company Ecebs, SMRT provide the ITSO Security Application Module (ISAM). This is a smartcard that resides in every Point of Sale (POS), reader and back office. ITSO cannot pay the right people without them. Ecebs designed the ISAM after winning the contract on tender. It is not a fixed term contract. There does not seem to be any way that any other company could provide ISAMs.

SMRT gain ITSO related revenue through consultancy fees & through services provided through ATL (JV with Mersey Travel)but mainly through the supply of ISAMs.

ISAMs are priced at around £50-£60 each. An ISAM will be needed for every ticket machine, ticket reader, station gate, back office, Oyster terminal etc. They also plan that you will be able to pay using ITSO in a taxi, in a car park, etc... the underlying technology (Eceb's MULTEFILE) will also potentially allow Local Government services to be accessed via the same 'entitlement card'. It is ALREADY happening in Scotland. That adds in a whole load more reader points..... With the ability to add electronic purse, small payments can be made in newsagents, McDonalds etc.... You get the picture ;0) Worth noting that Calypso (French standard) is also being ITSO certified and will need ISAMs.

Of course Hitachi are nothing to do with ITSO. They have licensed MULTEFILE because they want to use in it international ID and Passport projects....

I'm still waiting for Mastercard to jump aboard for EMV.....

DYOR. There is plenty more in the threads.

Price 4.4p to buy. 0.74p eps pencilled in for 2008 and 1.48p in 2009

10 bagger potential?

G.

[mistertibbs] 18/5/2007 12:28

I think if you look through the links generously given previously by Garth, the answers you seek are there, mainly. As for where we stand, its a matter of opinion I suppose, especially taking the multifile factor into consideration and linking with Hitachi.

[peterblok] 18/5/2007 11:23

garth - appreciate your prodigious input to this BB.

As a newcomer and non-techie, can you tell me what system Ken Livingstone uses for London smartcards, and if not ITSO, if and when this would be likely to be changed to ITSO.

How many other companies are there who supply using the ITSO system and where does SMRT stand in the pecking order?

Thanks

[awilson] 18/5/2007 10:48

Just added a few more

[garth] 18/5/2007 10:27

Spud,

I agree. Still think we ought to already be at 6.5p fair price following the Hitachi MULTOS contract. I don't believe that the Concessionary Bus Travel Bill's medium term impact is in the price either (and I'm not sure that the company have really done the sums and built it into their forecasts). Also, not mentioned on the paragraph from the ITSO site, is the continuing movement towards Oyster being made ITSO compatible.

10p medium term target - that's certainly mine too. That would put us on about 12-13x 2008 forecasts. Hardly demanding.

G.

[mistertibbs] 18/5/2007 10:09

There are a lot of ITSO members but it's still nice to see who sits at the top, alphabetically of course.

[spud] 18/5/2007 09:14

garth

Thanks for keeping us all updated. As the jigsaw forms, this is increasingly indicating towards a medium term target of 10p.

spud

[garth] 18/5/2007 09:10

On ITSO Internationally:

Currently there are ITSO schemes in Scotland, Cheshire, Merseytravel, Wales (2), Nowcard, Yorcard, Greater Manchester PTE, Southampton City and Nottinghamshire CC. And then there is the collaboration with CNA to enable Calypso card schemes to interoperate, Finland and Hungary looking at adopting ITSO as their national standard, a collaboration with VdV (Germany) on European standards, two ITSO based ITTs in South Africa, etc etc etc. This speaks for itself.

[garth] 18/5/2007 07:08

Just for reference, the second reading of the CBTB proceeded unopposed. For the patient it looks like something of a no-brainer. It will mean millions of pounds of revenue for SMRT over the next few years should the Government stipulate ITSO - which it looks increasingly certain to do:

Bus travel

Free off-peak bus travel for the elderly and disabled anywhere in England - not just in their own council area - was backed in the Commons.

The concessionary bus travel bill gained an unopposed second reading.

The transport secretary, Douglas Alexander, said that buses were "at the heart" of the transport system and a "lifeline" to many communities.

"We want older and disabled people to be able to look beyond their local areas and have free access to local bus services anywhere in England."