SK Telecom, the country’s top mobile carrier, said Wednesday it has signed a deal for the first exports of its universal subscriber identification module, which could help businesses better manage products such as liquor and pharmaceuticals.

SKT said that the company and its Chinese partner Sunnada Communication Co., a leading wireless coverage solution provider in China, agreed in Beijing to sell 55,000 units of USIM, which uses radio frequency identification reader technology.

RFID is a technology which communicates through radio waves to exchange data between a reader and an electronic tag attached to an object in order to identify or track it.

The technology could be used to confirm the authenticity of goods such as liquor and pharmaceuticals and improve management of the products.

“The first overseas export of RFID reader USIMs will serve as an opportunity for SKT to build necessary infrastructure for its Chinese business through SK China and further strengthen its technological leadership in the global market,” said Hahm Hee-hyeok, senior vice president and head of China platform business office at SKT.

The exports of the RFID reader USIM will be first since it was developed through a project assigned by the Ministry of Knowledge Economy from July 2009-June 2010. It was commercialized last July.

The firm began supplying the product to liquor retailers in December after the National Tax Service mandated five Korean liquor companies to attach RFID tags to their products.

SKT soon after developed a mobile application which enables users to check the authenticity of Korean whiskey in a bid to ban the distribution of fake liquor as well as prevent tax evasion.

The telecom company is also currently supplying RFID reader USIMs to Hanmi Pharmaceutical to provide real-time distribution and inventory management of its medical products for improved information visibility.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)