Gemplus renews multi-year agreement with Cingular for (U)SIM cards
Gemplus selected to provide USIM for Cingular 3G migration
Luxembourg and Dallas, TEXAS, 12 July, 2005–Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294–GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP), the world’s leading provider of smart card solutions, today announces that it renewed its multi-year supply agreement with Cingular Wireless, the largest wireless carrier in the United States, for Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards and was selected as one of Cingular’s primary suppliers of Universal SIM (USIM)1 cards. Cingular is currently using Gemplus’s SIM cards for Enhanced Network Selection and advanced data services for its GSM subscribers.
1“(U)SIM cards are an integral part of our strategy to improve the customer experience,” said Scott McElroy, executive director of technology, Cingular Wireless. “(U)SIMs provide the high level of security that we need as the largest U.S. wireless provider and bring our customers a richer phonebook and service continuity at home and abroad, from handset-to-handset, and in their migration to 3G.”
More than 75 million North Americans use SIM cards today. This number is expected to increase significantly over the next few years as more and more operators continue to migrate their subscribers to SIM cards. The (U)SIM card authenticates and identifies individual subscribers onto the wireless network and lets wireless carriers have a one-to-one relationship with subscribers. (U)SIM cards enable subscribers to freely carry their subscription and personal information from phone to phone, which has contributed to the global success of GSM.