Diversinet and Guangdong CA Team to Accelerate China’s Secure Mobile Application Market
TORONTO, Canada, March 16, 2004 – Diversinet Corp. (OTCBB: DVNTF), a leading provider of secured mobile solutions, and Guangdong Electronic Certification Authority (Guangdong CA) today announced they have signed a cooperative agreement to work together to stimulate China’s emerging mobile commerce (m-commerce) and mobile digital certificates (m-certs) market. Using Diversinet’s Passport ONETM security infrastructure software to implement the m-cert system, Guangdong CA will operate the system and issue the m-certs, and the two entities will engage in joint sales and marketing activities to promote m-certs and m-commerce solutions.
Guangdong CA, a joint venture between China Telecom and the Guangdong provincial government, is the authorizing authority for issuing digital certificates for e-business in Guangdong province. Guangdong province is the only province in Mainland China to establish an Electronic Transaction Ordinance (ETO), which provides a legal framework enabling electronic records and digital signatures to enjoy certain legal recognitions similar to their paper-based counterparts. The ETO opens the door for new mobile commerce businesses to emerge. Diversinet’s Passport ONE software is the first, and currently only, foreign product to offer legally binding digital certificates in China. The agreement with Guangdong CA builds on Diversinet’s success in Hong Kong, where the company was instrumental in defining a single mobile security standard for m-commerce and in establishing a mobile certificate authority, jointly operated with the Hongkong Post.
“China is still primarily a cash-based society where people rarely use credit cards but there is significant mobile phone penetration,” said Nagy Moustafa, president and CEO of Diversinet. “Mobile phones offer tremendous potential for electronic transactions, eliminating the need for cash transactions and in turn, facilitating other kinds of m-commerce. Our relationship with Guangdong CA offers us tremendous opportunity in this emerging market.”
Passport ONE is a standards-based security solution for wired platforms and wireless devices, such as personal computers, smart cards, PDAs, and mobile phones-many of which have limited security capabilities. Passport Certificate Server allows the deployment of secure applications such as e-mail, messaging, secure ID, and information delivery to any mobile device including Palm, Windows Mobile Pocket PC, Symbian and Blackberry wireless handhelds. The software complies with the Chinese digital certificate standard, which enables it to be the first foreign product that can deliver a viable mobile business solution.
With the number of mobile phone users in south China’s Guangdong province growing at 100 percent per year, Guangdong province accounts for one-sixth of China’s mobile telecom market. China now has more mobile phones than landlines, according to recent data from the China Ministry of Information Industry. Mobile subscribers in China increased by more than 30 percent in 2003 to 269 million, versus 263 million fixed-line phones. Analysts expect mobile handsets and high-bandwidth wireless networks to pave the way for rapid adoption of data applications and services.
“We are very pleased to enter into this agreement with Diversinet to provide mobile certificates and solutions that will accelerate the development of m-commerce,” said Daohai Zhou, CEO of Guangdong CA. “Diversinet’s proven success working with Hongkong Post and the Hong Kong m-Cert Implementation Forum (HKMIF) was an important consideration in our decision to enter into this agreement. We are confident that secure, legal mobile business applications will deliver profitable, efficient solutions to our mutual customers.”
About Guangdong Electronic Certification Authority
Guangdong CA is the certification authority approved by the Guangdong provincial government. The first of several CAs across China, Guangdong CA is qualified to issue legally-binded Digital Certificate for conducting e-business in Guangdong province. Headquartered in Guangzhou, China, Guangdong CA has released nearly 200,000 certificates. For more information visit www.cnca.net .
About Diversinet Corp.
Diversinet is a leading provider of secured mobile solutions to the enterprise, financial services, and gaming and wagering marketplaces. With demonstrated expertise in wireless and security, Diversinet delivers secure, reliable and scalable mobile solutions through security products and professional services such as application development and integration, consulting, training and technical support. Diversinet enables customers and their employees to securely access applications and critical corporate information from anywhere, at anytime and via any mobile device. Diversinet is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, with offices in Boston, Mass., Fremont, Calif., and Hong Kong, SAR. For more information visit www.diversinet.com.