France Telecom and STMicroelectronics Announce R&D Partnership and First Project on Secure Mobile Platform and SIM Card IC Architectures
Paris and Geneva, February 02,2006 - France Telecom and STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) today announced an R&D partnership agreement between the two companies that defines joint research and development projects and the promotion of the results. The partnership will allow the two parties to utilize their respective and complementary business strengths and technical R&D competences to jointly analyze and define end-to-end services and platform requirements, to enable faster service deployments and greater end-user satisfaction.
In addition to the general R&D partnership agreement, France Telecom and ST also announced the first joint R&D project, which addresses the analysis of end-to-end advanced security for mobile devices and services. The goal of the project is to define architectural solutions for the next generation of mobile platforms able to support mobile operators' constraints and requirements for the deployment of new secure and interactive services. The project will address many different mobile device components: the application processor and operating system; SIM Card ICs; and contactless interfaces.
Combining France Telecom's know-how in telecoms with ST's security technology developed for its Nomadik family of multimedia application processors, France Telecom and ST will work together to develop a secure and open environment for personal multimedia services and next-generation portable platforms. The final objective is to define a global trusted platform architecture.
In addition, the two companies will combine efforts to improve the SIM Card IC architecture and its connectivity within the mobile platform. They will work together to define efficient architectural solutions that will enable new and enhanced mobile services. The R&D activities will be centered on the use of multi-megabyte SIM memory capacities, high-speed SIM-to-mobile-platform interfaces, SIM IC support for contactless operation, and the use of the SIM IC as a dependable basis for the trusted mobile platform.
"For ST, the partnership represents a great opportunity to leverage its broad portfolio of products and systems expertise to strengthen our position in digital rights management for audio and video content, contactless payments and electronic signatures," said Andrea Cuomo, Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy and System Technology Officer at STMicroelectronics. "This agreement utilizes ST's leading position in digital consumer, mobile communication and smart card IC segments to define new devices and equipment architecture solutions, allowing operators to provide value-added services and a better user experience to their customers."
About France Telecom
France Telecom, one of the world's leading telecommunications operators, serves 130 million clients on five continents (220 countries or territories) as of September 30, 2005 and had consolidated sales of 47.16 billion Euros in 2004 by French accounting standards (46.16 billion Euros by IFRS standards). For the 3rd quarter 2005, consolidated sales were 12.26 billion Euros by IFRS standards. Introduced in June 2005, the transformative NExT program (New Experience in Telecommunications) will permit the Group to pursue its transformation as an integrated operator and to establish it as the operator of reference for new telecommunications services in Europe. By 2008, its customers will have access to a universe of enhanced and simplified communications services notably through the Orange brand.
Number two mobile operator and provider of internet services in Europe and amongst the world leaders in providing telecommunication services to multi-national companies, France Telecom (NYSE:FTE) is listed on the Paris and New York stock exchanges. Further information about France Telecom can be found at www.francetelecom.com
About STMicroelectronics
STMicroelectronics is a global leader in developing and delivering semiconductor solutions across the spectrum of microelectronics applications. An unrivalled combination of silicon and system expertise, manufacturing strength, Intellectual Property (IP) portfolio and strategic partners positions the Company at the forefront of System-on-Chip (SoC) technology and its products play a key role in enabling today's convergence markets. The Company's shares are traded on the New York Stock Exchange, on Euronext Paris and on the Milan Stock Exchange. In 2004, the Company's net revenues were $8.76 billion and net earnings were $601 million. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com.
Information last updated Jan 2005
