Whatever happened to... virtual SIMs? Everyone knows physical SIM cards have had their day. Small connected devices like wearables and IoT kit don’t have the space to accommodate SIMs, and shouldn’t have to. Nor should bikes. But as the operators’ "most potent instrument of control", they haven’t been in a hurry to give it up. Apple wanted to abolish SIM cards …
No, they do.
Device vendors want to do away with physical SIMs so that they, not operators are in control. The Network operator and Device maker then do deals. Less control to consumer.
Have you LOOKED at a SIM, never mind the pointless new smaller ones (that we don't really need anyway).
BATTERY dwarfs everything else.
It's not about saving space, that's merely spin to justify user loss of control. Unless the device is locked to a network, the operator has no control with physical SIM, user can change it and many governments have demanded users should be able to unlock.
The virtual SIM is all about giving a partnership of a Network Operator and Device maker control and the user less control.
First of all, even wrist watch has plenty of space for SIM, even with current thickness, rest aside length, width. Even ear wearables have enough space so apple plzz stop shiting about that... heck even eye wearables/glasses have enough space to hold micro-SIM. so shut up. secondly another question to apple... what if samsung file a patent for virtual-phone!?! how the fuck does that sound!?! very victorian aeh right !?! .. after all PDA are not phones they can just claim we are making virtual phones from PDAs they are not phone but with virtualized capability to make calls, all the Apple lawsuits whoosh/swish become a toilet paper to lick clean sammy's bum. Also since the then sammy phones are using white space spectrum so that also adds a clean layer of virtuality. Plz sammy save us from these few left over apple-ish, victorian monopolies..
The telecoms people need to accept that I will be buying 5G services via the App/Play Store in future. Probably ad-hoc on a month by month subscription basis.
Apple or Google will provide me with a free telephone number, just like they do with email addresses...
They physical SIM is a standard, you can use any operator who will provision you a SIM card. The virtual SIM would also be a standard, you would be able to use any operator who can provision your virtual SIM. You might not want such a phone for travel in the third world for a few years as operators who can provision a virtual SIM might be thin on the ground at first, but eventually such support would be ubiquitous.
Do Android phones have a USB connector that will only connect to certain devices? Do iPhones have a wifi radio that will only connect to certain access points? No, because those are both standards. Don't look for problems that don't exist.
The mobile operators don't want this because it takes away an element of control. There isn't any evil intent on the part of the phone OEMs - if they wanted to do your "single operator" model they could do that already by simply building the SIM card into the motherboard of the phone. Since some Android phones are sold with a single model sold only by a particular operator, if this was permitted by the GSM organization it would already have been done.
> The virtual SIM would also be a standard, you would be able to use any operator who can provision your virtual SIM
Downvote for being so naive as to believe that. The reality is that you will be able to use any operator that the controller of your device will allow you to. That is what was behind Apple's move - not user convenience (that's just a side effect), but the ability for Apple to have a hand in your ability to connect to a mobile network.
So instead of buying a SIM from whichever carrier (real or virtual) you want and popping it in, in the Apple world, you'll have to connect your device to Apple's infrastructure and select from those operators Apple permits you to use. In reality, that comes down to "whoever will give Apple a cut of your spend". Pretty well everything Apple's done in the iStuff world lately has been down to ensuring that Apple gets it's cut (30%) of everything you spend - and there's no reason to believe other vendors will act much differently.
And puzzled by the expression "controller of your device" ? Well when you buy an iThing, you may have purchased the hardware, but you only have a licence to use the firmware and software on it. In reality, Apple keep a pretty tight reign on what you can use it for - only connect stuff they approve (ever tried connecting a non-approved Bluetooth GPS ?), only run software they approve (via their closed store, they take 30%), only read stuff they take a cut of (c.f. how they changed the rules to prevent newspapers selling a subscription other than through Apple's pay system - allowing Apple to keep your identity away from the paper (Apple gets to sell advertising, not the paper) and taking their 30%), and so on.
Having control of your access to a mobile network would be the cherry on the cake for them.
Small connected devices like wearables and IoT kit don’t have the space to accommodate SIMs, and shouldn’t have to.
Why would anyone want an IoT device to use expensive cellular communications rather than WiFi?
Given the atrocious security holes in IoT devices that are revealed here just about every day I'd go a long way to avoid such a device that had its own cellular comms ... far further than I'd go to avoid a WiFi IoT device, in fact.
Here's a hint for phone manufacturers and network operators - no SIM, no sale!
I'll decide what network I'm going to use and where - and I'll be making that choice by removing the SIM from my phone and replacing it with the one in my pocket anytime I feel so inclined, I will not be contacting a call centre and trying to explain to someone with a questionable grasp of my language that I want to change operators for a couple of weeks while I'm on holiday in another country.
It doesn't need to work like that.
You just need a menu on the device that shows you the available networks, pick a network and tariff, enter some details and you're online. This would work for basic payg deals. For more complicated tariffs or contracts it can all be done online.
Only real drawback is the loss of temporary sim swaps, battery in your phone is dead you can't borrow one for the day until yours is charged up. This is becoming harder and harder these days anyway my spare phones take mini or micro sims, my current phone has a nano sim so I can't just swap my sims around.
"This is becoming harder and harder these days anyway my spare phones take mini or micro sims, my current phone has a nano sim so I can't just swap my sims around."
What I do in this situation is take the nano SIM out of my current phone, select the correct combination of surrounds that I broke it out of when it was first delivered to match it to the micro or mini (or even full credit card sized) SIM slot in my standby phone and then install it - problem solved.
The most flexible arrangement is a nano SIM and keeping track of the adapter pieces it was supplied with.
The great thing about the existing SIM model is that you can transfer it very rapidly to another phone in an emergency, or at least you could before they started screwing around with micro and nano sims.
The thing is I've manged to render my phone unusable a couple of times when away from home, and the fact that I could pick up a cheap burner and just stick the SIM has in one instance potentially saved my life.
It's so simple. Just take the SIM out of one phone and put it in another. To fuck up that flexibility would be criminal.
I choose the device, I choose the service provider. Sim cards make this happen. On networks without sims such as Sprint in the USA, Sprint will often refuse to activate customer owned devices which are fully compatible with the network and in some cases the exact same model is being sold by Sprint.
Let's have "No sim no sale!" as the slogan of the technically literate.
SIM Design Progression:
An outer layer of dodgy cardboard surrounds a thinner inner layer of even dodgier cardboard... Once you switch between phones with different nano or micro size holders, the cardboard completely breaks down.... I'd love to meet the genius behind this.. Probably a rich man no doubt!
The big problem with these re-programmable SIMs is the encryption. It needs to be downloaded onto the device to connect to a network. Without being connected to a network. Telcos are remarkably protective of Ki as possession of it would get you a good way towards being able to do all sorts of nefarious things. They certainly wouldn't want it broadcast over a bearer they don't control.
So you need a neutral, trusted 3rd party with a secure comms capability to deliver that information onto the SIM to get it to work in the first place. Good luck with that. Then if you change from network A to Network B, network B has to trust to send its secrets over a competitors network.
Of course the SIM vendors have had the tech for all this for years, but the trusted delivery is not there. As consumers we want to be able to swap telco with 2 button pushes, but there is a long way to go.
Anon cos certain telcos pay my mortagage
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