INTERVIEW: Gemplus Developing SIM
Cards For NTT DoCoMo
By RON HARUI
TOKYO -- Gemplus S.A. (F.GPS) of France is currently developing
subscriber identification module (SIM) card applications for Japanese
cell-phone giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. (J.NTX or 9437), and expects
tremendous growth over the next three to five years in SIM card markets
in Japan and the rest of Asia, said the director of technology development
at the company's U.S. operations Tuesday.
"We are in the process of developing (SIM card) applications for NTT
DoCoMo. As far as applications that NTT DoCoMo is planning to offer at
the end of this year, we're talking about millions of (SIM) cards in Japan,"
Jennie Ong said in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires.
Ong also said that most of these SIM card applications would be
incorporated into NTT DoCoMo's i-Mode mobile phones that will use
Wideband CDMA (W-CDMA) technology, in order to take advantage of
that network's high data speed.
"For 2000, the smart card market (in Asia) is going to be quite low, but for
the next five or even three years, I'd predict that it'll run into hundreds
millions of SIM cards for telecoms," Ong said.
Gemplus is also working with other telecommunications carriers in Japan
such as KDD Corp. (J.KDD or 9431), IDO Corp. (J.NTS), and DDI
Corp. (J.DDD or 9433) in developing and refining smart card applications
for current and next-generation mobile phone technologies, she said.
These three domestic telecommunications carriers said last December that
they will merge on Oct. 1, 2000, with DDI, a Kyocera Corp (J.KCR or
6971) affiliate, as the surviving company.
"We're up to date on the requirements of these carriers and on what user
requirements will be needed for this region," she said.
However, Ong said that Gemplus is still waiting for smart-card mobile
phone solutions for Japanese telecommunications carriers, saying, "The
main key issue for growth in this region for telecom is the readiness of
handsets. A handset specifically for CDMA that is capable of handling
SIM cards is not yet available. We're hoping for a handset to test with by
the end of this year," she said.
NTT DoCoMo is expected to launch the world's first commercial roll-out
of cellphone services using W-CDMA, a third-generation technology in
May 2001.
Ong added that a new SIM card-powered mobile phone would eventually
be made commercially available for the current CDMAOne and
CDMA2000 technologies. Given that Gemplus presently provides smart
cards only for non-telecom applications in Japan, the potential smart card
market for the telecommunications industry here is huge, she said.
"NTT DoCoMo, KDD, IDO, DDI and Japan Telecom Co. (J.JTC or
9434) are very interested in the SIM card technology," Ong said.
"(Our SIM card) market in Asia is only in the very initial stages. But,
hopefully with the acceptance of China Unicom and other carriers like
NTT DoCoMo, KDD, IDO and DDI of using the SIM card for CDMA,
we can catch up faster."
Gemplus also provides SIM cards to other Asian telecommunications
carriers, such as MobileOne Pte. Ltd. and Singapore Telecommunications
Ltd. (P.SGT) in Singapore, and Hong Kong's Hutchison Telecom, the
telecommunications division of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd (H.HUW), Ong
said.
She pointed out that Gemplus hopes to supply SIM cards to China
Unicom and that the company is aiming to capture a large share of the SIM
cards that China Unicom will use in its new CDMA mobile phones
planned for launch at the end of this year. "China Unicom forecasts that for
CDMA they're going to have 10 million subscribers at the end of the first
year of operations. We hope to get a major share of that," Ong said.
Presently, Gemplus has more than a 40% share of the global market for
smart cards and over a 50% share of the U.S. market, she added.
"Right now there are over 250 million SIM cards in GSM (Global System
for Mobile Communications) mobile phones." Ong sees this number rising
to more than 500 million by 2003.
"More and more SIM card applications are being developed, given the
market needs for internet access and the benefits of high-speed data," she
said.
The advantages to Asian telecommunications carriers that use SIM cards
are multi-fold, Ong said. "SIM card-powered mobile phone services will
be seamless and ubiquitous for users."
Asian subscribers who utilize roaming services of SIM card-powered
mobile phones outside their home countries can use the same applications
and services they use in their own countries.
In addition, subscribers from outside Asia can use the same applications
and services available in their own countries when they visit the region.
This technology is already available for mobile phones, Ong said.
"As far as the bottom line is (concerned), NTT DoCoMo or other
operators in Japan will create more revenue for both outbound and
inbound roamers."
Users of SIM card-powered mobile phones can also choose their language
preferences. "Smart cards contain indicators for languages which the
service provider of that market wants to support. But it needs the support
of the handset," she said.
SIM-card powered mobile phones also allow secure copying of personal
data from one SIM card to another SIM card.
"Service providers can take advantage of over-the-air downloading of
information real-time from the old SIM card into the new SIM card, or you
can do it at the point-of-sales," Ong said.
Gemplus is the world's leading provider of plastic and smart-card based
solutions. In 1999, the company recorded sales of about $800 million.
-By Ron Harui; 813-5255-2929; ron.harui@dowjones.com
Briefing Book for: F.GPS | H.HUW | J.DDD | J.JTC | J.KCR | J.KDD | J.NTS |
J.NTX | P.SGT | H.CKH | KYO |
