Gemplus and Microsoft Announce Cooperation On Windows Powered SIM Cards for GSM

CANNES, France, Feb. 2, 2000 — Today at the GSM World Congress, Gemplus SCA announced it will work with Microsoft Corp. to create a new family of subscriber identification module (SIM) cards for GSM mobile phones using the Microsoft® Windows® for Smart Cards operating system. The cards will conform to the industry’s GSM 11.11 and GSM 11.14 SIM Toolkit standards and combine Gemplus’ extensive SIM-card experience with the familiar development environment and versatility of Windows for Smart Cards.

SIM Toolkit technology has already established widespread success, enabling mobile operators to deliver value-added services on existing handsets to millions of GSM subscribers worldwide. Dataquest Inc. forecasts that GSM SIM cards will become an increasingly popular smart card application and that 513 million SIM cards will be manufactured in 2003. Since its creation in 1988, Gemplus has designed, manufactured and delivered close to 200 million SIM cards to GSM operators worldwide. Microsoft Windows for Smart Cards was selected for Gemplus’ new family of SIM cards because of its customizable GSM SIM-card operating system, ability to extend Microsoft applications to mobile phones and PKI functionality.

“Microsoft is excited to broaden our smart-card activity with Gemplus to include the advancement of GSM SIM-card technology,”
said Mike Dusche, product manager of Windows for Smart Cards at Microsoft.
“We look forward to working with Gemplus to bring the flexibility and power of Windows Powered Smart Cards to GSM users around the world.”

“The working relationship we have built with Microsoft over the past 15 months has allowed us to identify areas of cooperation where we can bring additional value to GSM operators by giving them an option to use Windows for Smart Cards,”
said Bertrand Cambou, chief operating officer for Gemplus.
“Many of our existing customers have welcomed this evolution in the GSM market.”

In addition to allowing GSM carriers to choose from a variety of configurations, Gemplus will port its GemXplore Mail application for mobile e-mail access to its Windows Powered SIM cards. GemXplore Mail is a SIM-based client for the Microsoft Mobile Internet Cellular Smart Access (ICSA) mail server that can be used on tens of millions of existing SIM Toolkit (phase 2+) GSM handsets. GemXplore Mail already has been adopted by five GSM operators.

Gemplus is also working on the integration of the Microsoft Windows Smart Card Toolkit, which enables developers and card customers to build a broad range of smart-card applications and services more easily by utilizing the familiar Microsoft development environment, into its GemXplore CASE design system. This will provide mobile phone operators with more flexibility in creating unique SIM-card-based services for their customers.

Availability

The Windows Powered SIM products are scheduled to be commercially available in the second half of the year.

Definitions

Subscriber identification modules are the smart cards used in GSM phones. The SIM card secures access to the mobile network and supports a wide range of value-added services such as mobile commerce and mobile e-mail.

SIM Toolkit is the ETSI standard that allows users to access SIM-card-based services from their GSM handset menus. Virtually all new GSM handsets are compatible with SIM Toolkit (or Phase 2+).

About Gemplus

Gemplus ( http://www.gemplus.com/ ) is the world’s leading provider of plastic and smart-card-based solutions with 37 percent market share (by units sold, source: Dataquest 1998). Gemplus sells magnetic stripe cards, memory- and microprocessor-based smart cards, smart contactless cards, electronic tags and smart objects. The company designs and markets software, development tools and readers. Gemplus also provides consulting, training and personalization services to deliver the industry’s most comprehensive and flexible card-based solutions to its developers, distributors, partners and customers.

With sales of over $648 million in 1998, Gemplus employs more than 4,300 people in 11 manufacturing facilities, six R & D centers and 43 sales and marketing offices located in 27 countries around the world. Founded in 1988, Gemplus has successfully implemented portable and secure smart-card-based solutions to simplify applications such as public and wireless communications, financial transactions, loyalty, transportation, education, health care, identity, physical access control, pay television, electronic commerce, Internet security, logical access control and information technology. For more information: http://www.gemplus.com/ .

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq
“MSFT”
) is the worldwide leader in software for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software – any time, any place and on any device.

Microsoft and Windows are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Microsoft Corp. in the United States and/or other countries.

1999 Gemplus. Gemplus is a registered trademark.

The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Note to editors: If you are interested in viewing additional information on Microsoft, please visit the Microsoft Web page at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/ on Microsoft’s corporate information pages.

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