SK Telecom Selects Gemplus’ USIM Card for 3G

Gemplus International S.A., the world’s leading provider of smart card based solutions, today announced its selection by SK Telecom, the leading provider of mobile telecommunications in Korea, to deliver USIM card technology for the commercial launch of its 3G W-CDMA network. The Gemplus "GemXplore 3G" USIM cards deployed for SK Telecom support all three primary networks currently available: 3G W-CDMA, CDMA 2000 1X and GSM. They also support WIM (Wireless Internet Module) as an additional security feature for WAP based mobile commerce transactions and the VSDC (VISA Smart Debit Credit) application by VISA International for the world’s first mobile proximity payment service on USIM card, MONETA.

SK Telecom first introduced the ‘MONETA card’ in 2001, co-branded with VISA. The IC Credit Cards were issued by prominent banks and credit card companies in Korea and included all conventional credit card functions and others such as e-Money (Visa Cash), loyalty, and SK Telecom membership. In early 2003, the upgraded version of ‘MONETA Card’ was introduced as ‘MONETA Chip’ - also recognized as a ‘Credit Card in a Cellular Phone’. The plug-in type IC credit card, inserted into the mobile phone, contained the Credit Card application, which enables CDMA subscribers to use their mobile phone to pay for goods and services by IrFM (Infrared Financial Messaging) or RF (Radio Frequency) at physical terminals.

SK Telecom launched (and issued) the 3G MONETA Chip from Gemplus for their 3G W-CDMA network on 29 December 2003. The card is available to all 3G W-CDMA subscribers. This achievement proves SKT as a pioneer of this most advanced m-commerce services and demonstrates again GEMPLUS’ technical leadership in the Smart Card industry worldwide.

This strategic collaboration of SKT and GEMPLUS, leaders in their respective industries, marks a historical milestone in the convergence of the financial and mobile telecommunications services.

"SK Telecom successfully launched the 3G MONETA Chip for 3G W-CDMA last December. We are confident in bringing the one-chip service to the market for the first time in the world, and believe that these achievements will prove our leadership in Mobile Finance Technology." Said Jin Seok Cha, Vice President, SK Telecom MONETA Division.

"Gemplus has been going from strength to strength in terms of 3G network deployment and this is the culmination of much hard work and a project management strategy. We have been working closely with both SK Telecom and VISA International in order to bring this to fruition and are delighted with the results. This is the first large scale deployment of mobile proximity transactions via a mobile phone and Gemplus is pleased to have been involved since the beginning." Said Akio Kondo, President, Gemplus Japan/Korea Region.

* Mobile proximity Payment: the ability to perform payment by physically putting a mobile device close to a physical point-of- sale terminal.
* USIM: Universal Subscriber Identity Module
* VSDC: (Visa Smart Debit Credit)
* WIM (Wireless Internet Module)

About Gemplus

Gemplus International S.A.(Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world’s leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source 2002: Gartner-Dataquest, Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.) It has the largest R&D team, unrivalled experience, and an outstanding track record of technological innovation.

Gemplus offers an exceptional range of portable, personalized solutions that bring security and convenience to people’s lives. These include Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Identity, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, access control, and a wealth of other applications. Gemplus’ revenue in 2003 was 749,2 million Euros.

www.gemplus.com

For more information
Jane StracheyTelecom PR Manager, GemplusTel: +33 (0)4 42 36 46 61 / Mobile +33 (0)6 76 49 35 53e-mail: jane.strachey@gemplus.com

Vanessa ClarkeAccount Director, EdelmanTel: +44 (0)20 7344 1349 / Mobile +44 (0)7730 989 698e-mail: vanessa.clarke@edelman.com

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