Westport, CT, September 3rd, 2004–ASK, leading provider of RFID products, today announced its successful participation in the EPCglobal Hardware Interoperability testing. EPCglobal Inc. is a not-for-profit organization entrusted by industry to establish and support the EPCglobal Network™ as the global standard for real-time, automatic identification of information in the supply chain of any company, anywhere in the world.

The Hardware Interoperability testing evaluated the interoperability of ASK Generation 1, Class 1 C.label® with readers provided by other manufacturers. MET Laboratories, a company that provides extensive testing and consulting services, administered the test in a controlled environment located in its Baltimore, Maryland facility.

“This is extremely significant because it signals a bold step forward in making EPC a reality in global commerce,” says Michael E. Di Yeso, president and chief operating officer of the Uniform Code Council and interim president of EPCglobal”. “ASK is showing leadership in participating in this testing and has positively positioned itself in this newly emerging marketplace.”

Thanks to a patented silver printed antenna on a paper inlay, a common component to all our products, ASK C.label® provides customers with highly reliable, environmentally friendly and printable labels. Our scalable and integrated manufacturing process guarantees mega-volume capacity, quality and cost-effective products. Based on a reel to reel process, the reel of inlays goes directly through chip mounting and ends with the finishing.

“ASK expertise regarding Radio Frequency and packaging since 1997 is a key differentiator to address the broad and specific RFID market requirements”, says Jean-Michel Dupont at ASK. “We are now able to offer the market a 20 cents USD 4”x6” EPC generation 1, class 1 printable and self-adhesive label for 10 million units, he adds.”

About ASK:

Founded in 1997, ASK is today the leading supplier of a comprehensive range of contactless cards, tickets, RFID tags and readers, complying with ISO and EPC standards. They address the mass transit, access control and e-government ID markets as well as the supply chain and logistics market. 50 million RFID antennas are already in use worldwide. Manufacturing is located in Sophia-Antipolis, France. Local offices are based in Paris, Singapore, Taiwan and Westport, USA.