KT and Axalto Launch World's First Wibro Card for Korean Wireless Broadband Service.

SEOUL, Korea -- KT and Axalto today announced the successful launch of the world's first commercial Wibro UICC card, which will enable subscribers to connect to the Korean wireless broadband mobile WiMax service.

"The KT Wibro UICC card is the result of the strategic alliance between KT and Axalto, the world's leading provider of microprocessor cards. This co-development project has combined Axalto's cutting edge technological expertise in smart cards and KT's strong leadership in wireless Internet technology to deliver this innovative subscriber authentication smart card," said D M Lee, executive vice president of KT BCN division.

KT subscribers will be the first in the world to enjoy the unparalleled experience of the secured Wibro connection when its WiMax service is rolled out next month in June. Fully compliant with the international common criteria process and relying on an EAL5+ certified platform, the KT Wibro UICC card provides most advanced security functions to prevent illegal terminal/card cloning and fraudulent use. As a card-based tool, it also offers users the freedom to choose the device from which they prefer to access Wibro services -- PDAs, notebook PCs or smart phones.

"The USIM-enabled KT UICC card will empower users to simultaneously access 3G communications service and enjoy the new Wibro experience that offers a usage speed of up to 18 Mbps," W P Hong, senior executive vice president of KT commented. "The introduction of the Wibro UICC card also presents new opportunities for KT to provide more advanced services such as mobile banking, stocks, credit card, ePurse and membership, to further enrich the user experience."

At the launch ceremony with KT today, Tan Teck Lee, president of Axalto Asia said, "With this Wibro card launch, KT is well positioned to lead the convergence and new wave of triple play services of voice, data and multimedia in Korea. Axalto, with its extensive global experience and expertise, is proud to partner KT as it drives the adoption of this new groundbreaking service, to deliver more personal, convenient and secure solutions to the mobile users."

Note to editors

Wibro is the Korean wireless broadband service of Mobile WiMax, based on IEEE 802.16e standard, and it can provide a maximum throughput of 18 Mbps that is operational at speeds of up to 120km per hour. The KT Wibro Subscriber Identity Module (WSIM) card provided by Axalto is the world's first Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) implementing the EAP-AKA technology (RFC 4187), and it provides multiple network connection authentication, which enables access to GSM, WCDMA, and Wibro. This card is a Multiple Security Domain card compliant with the Global Platform standard and is able to integrate highly secured applications for banking such as credit card, e-Purse and loyalty applications.

About Axalto

Axalto (EURONEXT:AXL) and (EURONEXT:NL0000400653) is the world's leading provider of microprocessor cards (Gartner 2005, Frost & Sullivan 2004) - the key to digital networks - and a major supplier of point-of-sale terminals. Its 4,500 employees come from over 60 nationalities and serve customers in more than 100 countries, with worldwide sales exceeding 3 billion smart cards to date. The company has 25 years of experience in smart card innovation and leads its industry in security technology and open systems. Axalto continuously creates new generations of products for use in a variety of applications in the telecommunications, finance, retail, transport, entertainment, healthcare, personal identification, information technology and public sector markets. Microprocessor cards provide convenience, security and privacy to public and private services operators, their customers and end users. For more info, please visit www.axalto.com