A handset is just futile without a SIM card as individuals can seamlessly carry along their contacts and enjoy the ease of portability. The GSMA has revealed the formation of a taskforce of mobile operators to examine the advancement of an embedded SIM that can be remotely activated.
This new offering will enhance the development of M2M services. The GSMA-led taskforce comprises a group of proficient technical experts gathered from operators like AT&T, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, France Telecom Orange, KT, NTT DOCOMO, SK Telecom, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. The group promises to work in collaboration with main SIM producers.
“The traditional SIM has been an important innovation in mobile telephony, and has provided many benefits to consumers in terms of security, portability of contacts, and ease of portability of devices across networks,” commented Rob Conway, CEO and Member of the Board of the GSMA. “As our industry moves from connecting phones to connecting a wide range of devices, it is apparent that the embedded SIM could deliver even greater flexibility. The embedded SIM will provide assured levels of security and portability for consumers, as well as provide additional functionality for enabling new services such as e-Wallet and NFC applications.”
The team will evaluate the market requirements and put forth a technical solution as an evolution of the existing SIM provisioning mechanisms. The newest SIM solution will bundle together enticing SIM card capabilities to ensure remote activation. The group is anticipated to finish the analysis of market requirements by January 2011.
This new SIM activation capability is expected to be available on various devices from 2012. However, conventional SIM-supported devices will continue to function effortlessly on current networks.