Gemalto Joins Mobile Alliance to Offer New Perspectives on VAS Development

(Business News & Technology News, 18 Jun 2009)

Mobile Alliance, an association of industry leading mobile software companies, announced that Gemalto, the world leader in digital security, has joined the alliance to help create a world-leading mobile software community in Singapore. Given its focus on developing its R&D capabilities in Singapore, supporting the Mobile Alliance is a logical step in its commitment to be major actor in promoting the development of the island-nation as a high-tech center in Asia.

Gemalto provides to over 400 mobile network operators (MNO) around the world, an increasing portfolio of mobile applications that make the digital life for subscribers more secure and convenient. Gemalto’s vision is to help value-added services (VAS) companies in Singapore understand and leverage the assets of the (U)SIM as an application bearer and enabler.

It’s pioneering work in mobile contactless and mobile payment as a Trusted Services Manager
(TSM) has shown that hosting and managing applications through the (U)SIM is a natural way to solve co-operation issues between MNOs and service providers. This in turn will address security concerns that MNOs and subscribers in the region may have about mobile applications.
Additionally the latest (U)SIM standards, such as the Smart Card Web Server, are now allowing developers to tap into the potential of the (U)SIM with multimedia content and applications.
Building advanced (U)SIM applications is one of the rare ways to deliver portable and rich multimedia services independently of the phone version and operating system. This is an innovation that Gemalto will share with partners of the Mobile Alliance, opening new perspectives for the VAS community in Singapore.

Boudewijn Pesch, President of Mobile Alliance, commented: “We are delighted to formalize this partnership with Gemalto as we embark on establishing Singapore as a hub for advanced mobile content and applications development. The link with Gemalto is a significant step for Mobile Alliance as we bring together the leading player in mobile security to connect with our vast community of members.”

Tan Teck Lee, President of Gemalto Asia added: “We strongly believe Singapore is the ideal place for us to join an industry alliance that aims at creating new lifestyle mobile services for South East Asia. We are particularly excited about the prospects of sharing with the developer community, the multiple advantages of the (U)SIM as a trusted element of the future mobile application landscape. We believe this has benefit for all the actors in the mobile ecosystem and eventually subscribers”.