SAN FRANCISCO — (November 18, 2003) — Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPTH), a global leader in digital communications software and services, today announced that SK Communications, a subsidiary of South Korea's largest mobile operator, SK Telecom, has selected Critical Path's directory software to centralize subscriber profiles and streamline the delivery of new mobile data services. SK Communications has purchased licenses for 120 million entries of the Critical Path™ Directory and Critical Path™ Business Continuity Server (BCS) high-availability software to simultaneously address two key initiatives. With Critical Path's software, SK Communications is automating the configuration, personalization and administration of a wide range of new premium services. In addition, SK Communications is enhancing the availability and scalability of its existing deployment of 20 million mailboxes powered by the Critical Path™ Messaging Server. The Critical Path solution is helping SK Communications reduce the costs of delivering new services for attracting subscribers and increasing average revenue per user (ARPU).
SK Communications is using Critical Path's carrier-class Directory to centrally manage subscriber preferences and personalization information for a variety of third party and custom-developed services. These new mobile Internet-connected data services are part of SK Communications' efforts to attract subscribers to its NATE.COM portal, the largest communications portal in South Korea. The company is also planning to use Critical Path's Directory and Business Continuity Server high availability solution to support further expansion of its existing mobile messaging service. These services are powered by Critical Path's Messaging Servers and provide rapid, reliable access to messages for millions of SK Communications mobile subscribers every day. With Critical Path's Directory, SK Communications can now distribute servers across multiple locations, enabling further growth while maintaining high performance and availability. To address both of these initiatives, SK Communications needed an infrastructure that could facilitate future services and handle the high volume of subscribers the company is attracting.
"Critical Path's platform is unique in its ability to provide high performance and reliability for many millions of subscribers across a wide range of services," said William McGlashan, chairman and chief executive officer of Critical Path. "Our Directory enables carriers such as SK Communications to cut the time and costs of delivering personalized, best-of-breed services that drive new revenues and market share."
Critical Path's Directory provides a single, highly reliable point of storage and access for per-subscriber information needed by messaging and other services. It replaces separately-developed, ad hoc means of managing such data with a single standards-based mechanism that reduces costs of development and support while accelerating time-to-market. By centralizing administration of this information, Critical Path's software simplifies provisioning and provides an infrastructure for implementing consistent user preferences and self-service. In addition to eliminating costly delays and errors, this approach improves ease of use and promotes greater subscriber consumption and loyalty.
For more information on Critical Path's messaging and identity management solutions for carriers and service providers, please visit www.criticalpath.net/solutions/wirelessSP/.