Lukáš Čambala
The so-called electronic SIM card has been talked about for some time. Now new information is surfacing that suggests Apple and Samsung would like to use it for their future devices - a move that could change the current situation where customers are tightly tied to their mobile operator.
GSMA is a company representing operators worldwide and according to information Financial Times is very close to reaching agreements to create a new standardized SIM card. The participants of the agreements are of course also the device manufacturers themselves, which will be key to the expansion of the new type of SIM.
What benefits does the new card bring? Above all, the advantage that the user will not be connected to only one operator and will not have difficult conditions when leaving (or switching) the operator. Among the first operators likely to adopt the new card format are, for example, AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Whampoa, Orange, Telefónica or Vodafone.
However, one cannot understandably expect that new devices with this card format would appear just from one day to the next. At best, we will have to wait at least until next year. According to the GSMA, the launch of the new format could take place during 2016.
Last year, Apple introduced custom SIM card format, which appeared in iPads, and until recently the functionality of the so-called Apple SIM has expanded to more than 90 countries. So far, it has not celebrated the kind of success that the new electronic SIM could possibly achieve with its global expansion and support.
Ane Bouverotová, who is the last executive director of the GSMA this year, revealed that the deployment of e-SIM was one of the goals of her reign and that she is trying to find a broad agreement on the specific form and specification of the new format across all major players, including Apple and Samsung. Electronic SIM should probably not replace, for example, the previously mentioned Apple SIM, i.e. a piece of plastic that is inserted into iPads.
For now, the cooperation agreement with Apple, but also with other companies, is not formally completed, but the GSMA is working diligently to ensure that everything comes to a successful end. If the e-SIM format does eventually take off, it would make it much easier for customers to switch from one carrier to another, perhaps with just a few clicks.
rather, I could imagine taking the current SIM card, cloning it and uploading its clone to the phone (device), so that there would be a little space left for the SIM card reader .. but this will be more interesting .. and if Apple takes 30% of everything again ? for every call, text, etc.?
The iPad Air 2 already has such a sim and I have not yet heard anything about it being more expensive than a classic sim...