 Gemplus, Oberthur Card Systems and Sagem Orga successfully pass interoperability tests on the
Multimedia SIM
Prague, April 26, 2006.
Gemplus, Oberthur Card Systems and Sagem Orga have launched a joint
initiative to demonstrate interoperability of the Multimedia SIM to enable fast deployment
in the market. First tests have already been successfully performed.
Mobile operators are asking for new SIM-based solutions to better serve their customers
when entering into the Multimedia world. For the SIM, this requires the integration of
advanced technologies in terms of communication protocols and large memory.
To move this forward, three of the leading smart card manufacturers - Gemplus, Oberthur
Card Systems and Sagem Orga, have teamed up to demonstrate interoperability of the
Multimedia SIM. Tests were carried out in close cooperation with major handset
manufacturers and were based on the MMC 4.1 protocol, which offers significant
advantages in terms of maturity and IP connectivity.
LG Electronics, a Mobile Handset Manufacturer that demonstrated prototypes supporting
in parallel both the regular mini SD card and the Multimedia SIM card, comments:
“The joint effort of SIM card leaders in this area should ensure a fast development
of a common solution. This is the fundamental basis to take advantage of a large memory
capacity.”
Successful interoperability tests have been accomplished with SIM cards from all three
companies and with six different handsets from five different vendors, including LG
Electronics and Sagem Communications. The tests involved video, picture & music rendering.
For all handsets supporting Multi Media SIMs, a first common integration guideline is
available, and can be obtained immediately from the three companies
Gemplus, Oberthur Card Systems and Sagem Orga will now propose their common approach based on this guideline and its further versions to the appropriate standardization committees.
“We would like to invite other companies to join our project – the more we co-operate in driving ahead the process of standardization for interoperability, the faster the industry will benefit from the new perspectives the technology offers”, says Heiko Kruse, Head of Technical Support - EMEA at Sagem Orga.
"2005 was the year of the first commercial pilot for the Multimedia SIM, and in 2006 we will now engage in mass deployment. Gemplus has always been dedicated to standardized and open products, as a means to fertilize the variety of SIM-based solutions. We want to apply this to MultiMedia SIMs, as they start to mature" says Jean-Francois Rubon, Director of Innovation & Strategy, Wireless, Gemplus.
"With this first step, we have validated the interoperability at the protocol/interface level. We can now benefit from the added security and connectivity to develop new enhanced services" says Stéphane Andrau, Head of Advanced Projects and Standardization, Telecom Unit, Oberthur Card Systems
****
Gemplus
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is a world
leading player in the secure card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source:
Gartner-Dataquest 2005, Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor). It has sold over 5.5 billion
smart cards.
Gemplus delivers a wide range of portable, personalized solutions in areas including
Identity, Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport,
Healthcare, WLAN, Pay-TV,
e-government, and access control.
Gemplus' revenue in 2005 was 939 million Euros.
www.gemplus.com
Oberthur Card Systems
With sales of 500.8 million Euros in 2005, Oberthur Card Systems is one of the world’s
leading providers of card-based solutions, software and applications including SIM and
multi-application smart cards as well as services ranging from consulting to
personalization. Innovative products, security expertise and high quality services ensure
Oberthur Card Systems’ strong positioning in its main target markets:
- Payment & Services: 53% of 2005 revenues. World leader and number one supplier of Visa and MasterCard payment cards.
- Mobile Communications: 32% of 2005 revenues, with open and interoperable solutions based on Java™ technology.
- Identity: strong positions in ID projects throughout the world.
- Multimedia: leading position in the Pay-TV market with an end-to-end expertise in the value chain: software development, manufacturing and personalization.
- Transit: focus in the high-end segment with a microprocessor-based offer.
Close to its customers, the company benefits from an industrial and commercial presence across all five continents. Listed on the Euronext Stock Exchange (ISIN: FR0000124133) since July 2000, Oberthur Card Systems is a subsidiary of the François-Charles Oberthur Group.
www.oberthurcs.com
Sagem Orga
Sagem Orga was founded in 2005 to bundle the smart card expertise of the French company
Sagem Défense Sécurité with that of Germany-based ORGA Kartensysteme GmbH. This smart
card expert offers its customers innovative, tailor-made system solutions built around
the latest card technology, and it is one of the major players in the international smart
card industry. Sagem Orga’s portfolio includes hardware and software, consulting and
services related to smart cards for the Telecommunications, Health, ID and Banking sectors.
Sagem Orga, with headquarters in Paderborn, Germany, maintains a global network of
subsidiaries, joint ventures, branch offices and sales partners as well as state-of-the-art
production sites in France, Germany, China, Brazil, Russia, India, Nigeria and the U.S.
The company employs more than 1,800 people worldwide.
Sagem Orga is a part of the international high-tech group SAFRAN. With 58,000
employees in more than 30 countries, SAFRAN generates annual sales of more than 10
billion euros.
www.sagem-orga.com
Press contacts:
Gemplus
Jane Strachey
Phone: +33 4 42 36 46 61
Mobile: +33 6 76 49 35 93
Jane.strachey@gemplus.com
www.gemplus.com
Oberthur Card Systems
Stéphanie Cau
Phone: +33 1 47 85 56 57
Mobile: +33 6 60 53 75 61
s.cau@oberthurcs.com
www.oberthurcs.com
Sagem Orga
Mareike Blumentrath
Phone: +49 (0) 52 51/ 8 89 - 1216
Mobile: +49 (0) 162/200 77 61
mareike.blumentrath@sagem-orga.com
www.sagem-orga.com
©2006 Gemplus. All rights reserved. Gemplus, the Gemplus logo,
are trademarks and service marks of Gemplus S.A. and are registered in certain countries.
All other trademarks and service marks, whether registered or not in specific countries, are
the property of their respective owners.
Some of the statements contained in this release constitute forward-looking
statements. These statements relate to future events or our future financial performance and
involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause our or our
industry's actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements to be materially
different from any future results, levels of activities, performance, or achievements expressed
or implied by such forward-looking statements. Actual events or results may differ materially.
Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are
reasonable, we cannot guarantee future results, levels of activity, performance or achievements.
Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those estimated by the
forward-looking statements contained in this release include, but are not limited to: trends
in wireless communication and mobile commerce markets; our ability to develop new technology,
and the effects of competing technologies developed and expected intense competition generally
in our main markets; profitability of our expansion strategy; challenges to or loss of our
intellectual property rights; our ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships in
our major businesses; our ability to develop and take advantage of new software and services;
and the effect of future acquisitions and investments on our share price. Moreover, neither we
nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of such
forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements contained in this release speak
only as of this release. We are under no duty to update any of the forward-looking statements
after this date to conform such statements to actual results or to reflect the occurrence of
anticipated results.
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