SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) announced today that it signed a contract with Sunnada Communication Co., Ltd., a Chinese leading wireless coverage solution provider, to export 55,000 units of RFID* Reader USIM, at SK China Headquarter in Beijing, China. 
* RFID(Radio Frequency Identification) is a technology that uses communication via radio waves to exchange data between a reader and an electronic tag attached to an object, for the purpose of identification and tracking.

Following a trial service, Sunnada Communication plans to sell SK Telecom’s RFID Reader USIM to Chinese mobile operators to be adopted by businesses to improve management and confirm authenticity of goods including liquor and pharmaceutical products.

This marks the first export of RFID Reader USIM since SK Telecom developed ‘Mobile RFID Chip on USIM’ through a project assigned by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy from July 2009 to June 2010 and commercialized the product for the first time in the world in July 2010.

SK Telecom started supplying RFID Reader USIM from December 2010 since the National Tax Service made it mandatory for five Korean liquor companies to attach RFID tags to their products. Along with providing RFID Reader USIM to liquor retailers, SK Telecom also developed a mobile application that provides a system to check authentication of Korean whisky to prevent distribution of fake liquor and tax evasion in the distribution process.

In addition, SK Telecom is also providing RFID Reader USIM to Hanmi Pharmaceutical to be used for real-time distribution and inventory management of its medicinal products to achieve greater information visibility. Furthermore, tests are underway to apply RFID Reader USIM technology to businesses in diverse industries.

SK Telecom’s RFID technology attracted global attention at the Mobile World Congress held at Barcelona, Spain in February 2011 as the technology specially invited to be presented at the Embedded Mobile House.

Hahm Hee-Hyeok, Senior Vice President and Head of China Platform Business Office at SK Telecom said, "The first overseas export of RFID Reader USIM will serve as an opportunity for SK Telecom to build necessary infrastructure for its Chinese business through SK China and further strengthen its technological leadership in the global market. SK Telecom will make efforts to develop and commercialize USIM and Micro SD Card embedded with ZigBee, Wi-Fi or NFC technologies, thereby creating cutting-edge WPAN* technologies and many attractive WPAN-based products and services."