Europe : Gemplus International announced that it has carried out the world's first high speed Java SIM card applet download over the live 3G infrastructure of 3 Hong Kong.

Using a faster and more powerful communication channel based on USIM and OTA technology for 3G1, Gemplus was able to download a data applet over 3 HK's live network onto a 3G video mobile phone at a speed of 384 kbit/s. This represents a significant improvement over SMS bearer technology which is currently used for SIM OTA in 2G.

Download capability at this speed means that mobile operators will be able to maximize the potential of large USIM cards sized 128kb and above, offering faster and more reliable card administration, such as profile management and applet downloading, dynamic memory management, service deployment and post- personalization. End users will be able to access the services and content they want, and update and delete them as and when required. Operators will also be able to manage the "operator menu" remotely, in order to ease service set-up and recovery.

With 3 Hong Kong set to be one of the first operators benefiting from this, Ms. Agnes Nardi, Managing Director of 3 Hong Kong, said, "What this means for us is the ability to download larger applications with speed directly onto the USIM. This is useful for applications such as preferred roaming list update and handset tracking, which can be performed with no service disruption to the end-user. We have implemented this technology in a pilot phase and it is now ready for full deployment."

"This achievement has come about thanks to Gemplus' strong expertise and experience in delivering 3G cards and solutions to operators rolling out 3G networks" said Jacques Seneca, EVP Business Development Group, Gemplus. "This reinforces our leadership in the 3G sphere, alongside such key players as 3 Hong Kong".

1 - USIM and OTA technology for 3G is based on the latest 3GPP and ETSI standards commonly known in the SIM card industry as BIP (Bearer Independent Protocol).

About Gemplus
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest (2004), Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor.) It has sold over 4 billion smart cards.

With security at its core, and 2400 patents produced by its innovative R&D team, 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 2003 was 749 million Euros.