But with so many 'standards' bodies, will m-commerce ever get off the ground?

The consortium, named PayCircle, is set up by U.S. computer to printer group Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HWP - news), telecom equipment maker Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU - news), software firm Oracle (Nasdaq:ORCL - news), computer and software company Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq:SUNW - news) and Germany's telecom equipment maker Siemens (SIEGn.DE). 

``The consortium aims to provide mobile device users worldwide a standard means of making mobile payments, regardless of the payment systems used by merchants or service providers,'' the new group said in a statement. 

Until now, the large number of incompatible payment systems has hindered the spread of m-commerce, it said. PayCircle intends to define open and uniform interfaces based on existing standards, without the need to install any new software. 

Hewlett-Packard, one of the founding members of the PayCircle alliance, recently also joined another mobile payment consortium, Mobey Forum. 

Mobey Forum, set up by financial institutions, intends to set global rules for mobile commerce. The forum has so far failed to sign up wireless operators. 

Mobile commerce refers to the capability to pay for items in shops and on the mobile Internet by using a cellphone.