Sun Microsystems' Java Card Technology Available as GSM Standard in Mobile Phones; Java Technology Enables Access to Consumer Services Via the Mobile Phone - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Nov 22, 1999

Sun Microsystems, Inc. Tuesday announced that Java Card technology has been adopted into the industry-leading worldwide standard for mobile phones: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM).

Already shipping, the smart card chip built into GSM phones provides personalization and security while enabling access to a variety of new wireless services such as remote banking, ticketing and payment due to the phone's ability to provide secure transactions.

"With more mobile phones sold worldwide last year than cars and PCs combined, there are clearly a wealth of opportunities for device manufacturers and service providers," said Patrice Peyret, director, platform software engineering, Consumer and Embedded, Sun Microsystems, Inc.

"Leveraging platform independent Java technology in GSM phones will empower the emerging networked economy by allowing telecommunications providers to become wireless portals, connecting consumers seamlessly to Internet based content and services."

International Data Corporation estimates that over 200 million people worldwide today use mobile phones and that number is projected to reach one billion users by the year 2005.

The GSM architecture requires two main components, a handset and a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card. The removable SIM card stores personal authentication data. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), which creates GSM standards, has adopted Sun's Java Card technology for inclusion in the SIM Toolkit.

The SIM Toolkit is an extension to the GSM standard that enables SIM cards to perform value-added services in addition to the basic subscriber management functions. Now, programmers can create these services using standard Java technology-based development tools and the widely accepted Java Card environment.

The Java Card application programming interface (API) for the SIM Toolkit was developed collaboratively by several major Java Card technology licensees including Bull, De La Rue (Oberthur), Gemplus and Schlumberger. The combination of Java technology and the SIM Toolkit will enable service providers to simply create and securely deploy value-added services such as travel and entertainment reservations, ticketing and loyalty programs to GSM phones.

Sun's open technologies, such as the Java Card platform, help ensure cross-platform compatibility, portability and strong security features. The ability of Java Card technology to work across different platforms is accelerating the convergence of multiple industries.

For example, De La Rue (Oberthur) is demonstrating a GSM SIM card that contains support for both Java Card technology and the GlobalPlatform, formerly known as the Visa Open Platform. This particular card provides direct support for both telephony and financial applications.

The Java Card platform's open standard object-orientated structure provides a natural platform for this integration, allowing businesses to deploy payment and transaction services to millions of customers across a wide range of Java technology-enabled devices.

Introduced in 1996, the Java Card platform is a widely deployed open standard multi-application smart card environment. With over 30 licensees representing more than 90% of the manufacturing capacity of the smart card industry, the Java Card platform is a proven technology that has been deployed in millions of units.

For more information about Sun's Java Card technology, visit http://java.sun.com/products/javacard.

With $12.4 billion in annual revenues, Sun can be found in more than 170 countries and on the World Wide Web at http://www.sun.com.