According to a Computer Weekly article, O2 UK, the U.K.’s second largest telecom provider, will be announcing its own near field communication (NFC) payment system in the second half of 2011. James Le Brocq, managing director of financial services at O2, told Computer Weekly that “significant announcements” will be coming by year’s end.

The story says that O2 will be allowed to process financial transactions in their own right and will not need a retail banking partner. O2 is currently in the process of putting the program together and will be filing applications for the required licensing this year.

Last week Barclaycard and Everything Everywhere Ltd announced a roll out of their mobile payment platform in the U.K. by this summer. Everything Everywhere is the U.K.'s largest telecom provider.