-  Signed MOU for collaboration with KDDI and Softbank. Pilot NFC-based coupon service to open in Shin-Okubo,
    Tokyo in April.
-  Service also accessible to Korean travelers to Japan who may download app and use it in the NFC Zone
-  Plans to work with partners to offer more diverse NFC solutions, such as payment, membership and coupons

Seoul, Korea, January 17, 2013 – SK Planet today signed an MOU with KDDI and Softbank to partner to set up a pilot NFC
Zone in Shin-Okubo area in Tokyo, marking its ambitious entry into the global Near Field Communication (NFC) market.
 
The Shin-Okubo is an area in Tokyo where Korean restaurants and shops specializing in K-Pop and Korean cosmetics
products are concentrated. It has risen to popularity riding on the recent Korean Wave in Japan. Favored by young Japanese
women in their 20s and 30s, Shin-Okubo now competes with the better-known commercial districts of Harajuku and
Shinjuku in trade volume.
 
The pilot opening of the Shin-Okubo NFC Zone will primarily feature coupon services given the commercial nature of the
district and the visitor demographics. SK Planet’s role is to build a platform for the pilot NFC Zone based on the SK NFC
Open Platform and to manage the tag solutions and coupon servers.   
 
Alliance partners KDDI and Softbank will conduct marketing efforts to attract merchant clients in Shin-Okubo and enlist
them for coupon services. Consumers in Japan can install the app provided by the two carriers and use it to download
various discount and free coupons issued by the local merchants.
 
Coupons are very easy to use in the Shin-Okubo NFC Zone. All one needs to do is simply hold the smartphone close
to the NFC device at the merchant store. At various locations in the streets will be smart posters with embedded NFC
tags to provide information on tourist attractions and popular shops as well as about the NFC Zone itself. A promotional
video will also be played to raise awareness.
 
The NFC Zone is not just for the Japanese consumers. Koreans travelling to Shin-Okubo may download the Korean
version of the app to enjoy the same services by holding their phone near an NFC terminal within the zone. This will
be piloted for SK Telecom users.
 
SK Planet with its global NFC leadership in technology and operational know-how and supported by its alliance with
KDDI and Softbank, Japan’s second and third largest carriers, is poised to launch diverse NFC services for an initial
customer base of 80 million. As NFC functionality will likely be embedded in most smartphones scheduled to launch
this year in Japan, the local NFC market is expected to grow dramatically.
 
SK Planet also revealed that it plans to roll out other NFC solutions such as payment, membership, and coupons
through further collaboration with KDDI and Softbank.
 
Kah Jong-Hyun, Senior Vice President and Head of Core Platform Management Division of SK Planet, anticipates quite
confidently a successful launch in Japan “as SK Planet already has significant technology and know-how accumulated
through the pilot operation of Myongdong NFC Zone last year.” He also forecasts that “SK Planet will lead the global
NFC standardization as it launches diverse NFC services and solutions in the neighboring economies of Japan,
China and Southeast Asia.”
 
SK Planet is currently the project leader for the Mobile NFC Global Working Team, composed of major mobile carriers
in Europe, US, Japan and China with the aim of establishing international NFC standards. SK Planet is strongly
committed to expanding the NFC usage and ecosystem. It released the NFC open platform called Smart Touch as part
of its efforts to grow the user base and foster NFC-related business.