Apple and Samsung are preparing to kill the SIM card

[Scorpus]

According to a new report from The Financial Times, both Apple and Samsung are working with the GSMA - the association that represents the mobile telecom industry and supports the GSM standard - to bring an end to traditional SIM cards.

The replacement for SIM cards will be the e-SIM, an electronic version of a SIM that allows a user to quickly and easily change between mobile networks. Depending on how the specification is finalized, carriers might still be able place restrictions on the e-SIM, although the concept is designed to be more flexible than traditional SIMs.

The technology will be similar to the Apple SIM that was introduced with the iPad Air 2, allowing users to easily switch between data networks on the tablet. While the Apple SIM could be replaced by users, the e-SIM will be non-removable, allowing the SIM card slot to be removed from smartphones.

The GSMA is confident that a "common architecture" for the e-SIM will be eventually adopted by the telecom industry. The current proposed e-SIM standard has the backing of major carriers including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile), Vodafone, Orange, and Telefónica, though it won't be supported by everyone at launch.

There is still work to be done to get the e-SIM standard ready for the market, although the GSMA is hoping to finalize the specification for launch sometime in 2016. This could mean we'll see e-SIMs supported alongside traditional SIM cards in the next generation of smartphones.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/61408-apple-samsung-preparing-kill-sim-card.html

 

[Sanjay Shaw]

Great idea.. Looking forward to use it.

 

[danny22]

Great idea.. Looking forward to use it.

Just wait till someone jacks your E-SIM and starts making calls without even needing to steal your phone.

 

[bugejakurt]

Great idea.. Looking forward to use it.

Just wait till someone jacks your E-SIM and starts making calls without even needing to steal your phone.

Yes E-SIMs need some thought on security, however it is the way forward especially with IOT and 5G

 

[davislane1]

$20 on the existence of a backdoor for alphabet soup agencies. Who wants in/to take the other side?

 

[Guest]

Man! This is some great new tech..... oh wait it already exists, it is called CDMA.

I don't like this idea as I have had bad experience's changing my phone to different carriers with CDMA, GSM I just pop the SIM out and pop new one in and BAM changed carrier.

Heck I could even temp change carrier or plans within the carrier to balance my data across 2 plans using GSM and two sim cards that I alternated.

 

[RustyTech]

$20 on the existence of a backdoor for alphabet soup agencies. Who wants in/to take the other side?

I think everyone would lose their $20 to this bet

 

[p51d007]

I don't blame the manufacturers for wanting to incorporate an electronic sim card. Less hardware hassles, less chance of connection problems, less expense, but, the line about making it easier to switch between networks, well the hardware guys might make them that way, but you can bet (at least in the USA) the carrier owners won't make it "easy".
I also hope they really take security into the design idea, or this could be a nightmare. Perhaps tie the e-sim to the imei number or a hash from the hardware.

 

[cmbjive]

Man! This is some great new tech..... oh wait it already exists, it is called CDMA.

I don't like this idea as I have had bad experience's changing my phone to different carriers with CDMA, GSM I just pop the SIM out and pop new one in and BAM changed carrier.

Heck I could even temp change carrier or plans within the carrier to balance my data across 2 plans using GSM and two sim cards that I alternated.

I was going to say the same thing.

 

[Liana]

If e-sim means having to call my carrier whenever I want to switch phones, I don't want anything to do with it.

 

[DelJo63]

I just pop the SIM out and pop new one in and BAM changed carrier.

If you are in domestic U.S., you need to have an unlocked phone for this to work. Given that, while traveling in Europe, this is the technique to avoid U.S. provider roaming charges (insert localized SIM).

So now then with the e-Sim proposal, we can't do that and we gravitation to world wide locked phones with roaming charges????? Concerned !

 

[Rippleman]

Man! This is some great new tech..... oh wait it already exists, it is called CDMA.

I don't like this idea as I have had bad experience's changing my phone to different carriers with CDMA, GSM I just pop the SIM out and pop new one in and BAM changed carrier.

Heck I could even temp change carrier or plans within the carrier to balance my data across 2 plans using GSM and two sim cards that I alternated.

I was going to say the same thing.

CDMA does not support a system where a phone can be unlocked to a carrier... ever.

 

[cmbjive]

CDMA does not support a system where a phone can be unlocked to a carrier... ever.

But CDMA does support not having to use a SIM card...ever.

 

[Rippleman]

But CDMA does support not having to use a SIM card...ever.

You said this in your previous comment.

 

[Guest]

You said this in your previous comment.

In my last post I basically agreed with the poster. In the second response, I stated the reason why I agreed with the poster. The point is CDMA does not require a SIM card, which was the original poster's and my point. That doesn't negate your point, which is true, up to a point. Some CDMA phones can be unlocked and used on other networks.

 

[Rippleman]

In my last post I basically agreed with the poster. In the second response, I stated the reason why I agreed with the poster. The point is CDMA does not require a SIM card, which was the original poster's and my point. That doesn't negate your point, which is true, up to a point. Some CDMA phones can be unlocked and used on other networks.

Never mind, I thought you were trying to say that everyone should move back to CDMA.

 

[Guest]

That should not happen because if your phone breaks and you'll have to get another one. how are you going to use it with eSIM??

 

[cliffordcooley]

That should not happen because if your phone breaks and you'll have to get another one. how are you going to use it with eSIM??

Your first phone was setup somehow, I'm sure the replacement can be setup the same way. If the eSIM works then maybe there is a way to back it up.

 

[Timonius]

That should not happen because if your phone breaks and you'll have to get another one. how are you going to use it with eSIM??

Your first phone was setup somehow, I'm sure the replacement can be setup the same way. If the eSIM works then maybe there is a way to back it up.

Yes there will most likely be a cloud based solution. That's the trend, and the 'excuse' is performance and convenience.

Sim cards are just another part of a phone that is subject to unnecessary wear and tear.

 

[HiDDeNMisT]

I kinda like the idea.

 

[Guest]

Soooo, lets see, Samsung, the people that brought you spying on your systems and you without notice, and after major protest, THEN gave you spying on your systems and you WITH notice aannnddd, Apple, the people that only want you to be able to do what they say you need and nothing else, are getting to gether to put a non-user controllable personalized part in every phone they sell that uniquely identifies you and requires you to register and store your contacts and data with them. No fully controlled advertising customization here. No sir. The KGB and Google would be proud of their thinking.

Remembering also that Apple conspired with Google to control industry wide computer tech pay, this looks much like the same attempt at monopoly control methods emerging.

Not really seeing an upside to the two biggest players getting together rather than competing.

Frankly, the easier method would be two separate SIM cards. One for the carrier you're wishing to use at that moment and one for your personal info. Change the one your phone fits any country you buy the SIM to use in. Change phones, just move the other or both. Data standards, not hardware, would make that possible.

 

[sadman3]

So when you change to e-sim your not going to reload it? I think the Sim Card would still work best. Changing sim is not a problem because phones now a days have dual sim slots. They could even receive messages in both sim cards at once. What's the problem with it?

 

[MongooseTechie]

Great idea.. Looking forward to use it.

Ah another overly-enthusiastic, "positivity is everything", naive South Asian on a tech article. Note, that's a cultural observation, not a racial one (I shouldn't even have to say this, but feeble minds confuse the two issues). Thanks, with all of the tech companies being so pro-consumer, never needing challenging (note sarcasm) we need more of this sycophant "it's new so it must be good", sleep-walking-into-technological-slavery, culture!

 

[MongooseTechie]

Yes there will most likely be a cloud based solution. That's the trend, and the 'excuse' is performance and convenience.

Sim cards are just another part of a phone that is subject to unnecessary wear and tear.

Yeah because durability is the first thing planned-obsolescence phone manufacturers care about, rather than enabling spying on you without ability to physically-challenge that spying...

 

[MongooseTechie]

Your first phone was setup somehow, I'm sure the replacement can be setup the same way. If the eSIM works then maybe there is a way to back it up.

- and if there's a way to back it up, via software-only, then there's a way to clone and hack it via software only. Physical-linked security tokens have less problems in this regard (banks still use Smart Cards for employee authentication, for example).