Prism Holdings, the JSE-listed secure electronic payments company, has become the eighth member of the global SIMalliance, joining the world`s leading SIM card manufacturers to ensure that SIM technology supports open and interoperable solutions for mobile services.
Deon Visser, MD of Prism`s SIM Business Unit, says the company`s global credibility in the development and licensing of end-to-end m-commerce and SIM technologies, coupled with its rapidly growing customer base, had made it appropriate for Prism to claim membership of the most prestigious body in the SIM arena.
"SIMalliance is where the best-of-breed thought leadership, innovation, product and market research, and the future of mobile communications can be shared with the leading stakeholders in mobile removable embedded microprocessors.
"Indeed, SIMalliance represents the single most advanced global forum for this sort of collaboration. Prism is honoured to have been accepted as a member alongside such internationally renowned names as Gemplus, Giesecke & Devrient, Incard, Oberthur Card Systems, SchlumbergerSema, ORGA Kartensysteme and XPonCard Danmark A/S.
"More importantly, our membership of SIMalliance places us at the very heart of SIM development and gives us direct exposure to current thinking regarding pressing issues in the field," he adds.
SIMalliance has established several incubator workgroups such as the SIM API for J2ME TM (Java 2 Micro Edition) Smartphone, to work in collaboration with the Java TM Community Process (JCP) for defining SIM API for seamless SIM and J2ME TM handset integration. As an example of on-going successes, SIMalliance has been the primary facilitator in driving JavaCard towards an interoperable standard between GSM JavaCard SIMs.
SIMalliance Chairman Jean-Philippe Betoin says Prism has been warmly welcomed by the association. "Without interoperable solutions, development in the mobile industry would only be stalled. SIMalliance means better SIM economies, timely delivery and seamless migration to new and upcoming mobile technologies. SIMalliance therefore acts as a recognised incubator for meaningful, practical and viable SIM card evolutions - and Prism has established itself as an increasingly important player in this industry," he explains.
SIMalliance is not `another` industry forum, but drives the outputs of other vertically focused forums into rapid adoption by the mobile services industry. This includes telecom operators, technology vendors, standards bodies, content providers, and end users alike. SIMalliance expert groups work in close collaboration with industry and standards bodies and forums, including ETSI, 3GPP, JCP, and the GSM Association.
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JSE-listed Prism Holdings is a world leader in the secure electronic transaction market. With a growing presence in Europe and South-East Asia, Prism is one of the few companies in the world offering services solutions and products that bridge the following core technologies:
- . Security - sophisticated cryptographic security solutions, many developed using own intellectual property resources;
- . Payment solutions in the physical and virtual (Internet and wireless) realms; and
- . Smart card technologies spanning both wireless communications and electronic payments.
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