Multi-network iPhone SIM rumours at Apple

It's don't think it's about bypassing the carriers

This is going to be a software configurable SIM, the provisioning of which would have to involve two parties – Apple and the carrier. There’s no way to provision a SIM onto a network without that service provider being involved in the transaction.

I see three advantages to Apple in this approach, none of which are to do with bypassing the carrier;

1) Supply chain/channel

A single skew can ship globally. At present Apple has to ship hardware with subsidy locks in place into each channel. This is hugely expensive, and challenging for the channel whenever Apple releases a new model. This could also enable Apple to retail subsidised phones and iPads through Apple Stores.

2) Hardware

A hardware SIM embedded on the motherboard will be cheaper to manufacture, and take up less space. It also removes one more aperture from the outside of the case, which is clearly in line with Apple’s design philosophy.

3) Removing a reason to Jailbreak

Apple gets ongoing revenue from carrier. Thats why the iPhone price plans are different to those offered for other devices.

The primary reason for jailbreaking is to take the hardware to another network. An embedded SIM stops this dead. More phones stay on the carrier and plan that Apple wants, and there’s very little reason for the average user to attempt to Jailbreak. In fact the only reason left now is to install apps that you can’t get through the iTunes app store. This will be marginal.

IMHO this does little to threaten the carrier beyond what Apple already achieves through ownership of the Application and content ecosystem.

Nick

Erm

Current iPhones range from £419 to £599. The iPhone 4 16GB is £499 which is not equal to £600.

Sounds a lot but it is a lot cheaper than they used to be unlocked (£700 or more). Freedom does come at a price as well, you can also sell your phone 12 months later when the next model comes out and get back a reasonable amount of money. You can also take advantage of new PAYG operators like GiffGaff who offer 150 mins, unlimited texts and truly unlimited data for £10 a month.

I got about £130 for my old 8GB iPhone 3G two years after I bought it.

Various analysts have speculated that...

The any-network iPhone could "cut the carriers out" of the phone business, and suggest that the new tech could herald a major upheaval.

Are these the same analysts who were going nuts over the nexus one?

This could benefit more than just iPhone users

This addresses a big issue for a number of users, namely the crippling data charges when roaming. By simplifying the process of switching to a different carrier when overseas and, therefore, benefit from more favourable rates.

This in turn could put pressure on providers to reduce roaming data charges, which would be nice.

Sorry, (almost) all wrong I think

This is all about Apple closing various loopholes - they control the SIM which mean they can control who you connect to. You can't do anything that Apple doesn't approve of. It means Apple can do deals with operators, and operators can easily enforce only using iPhoneys on certain tariffs - being able to prevent you using one on their cheapest tariffs is likely to be attractive to the networks.

Also, even if that doesn't stop you, for me there's the practical issue that I can't take the SIM out of my phone and put it in something else. At the moment, when I want internet on my laptop I put my SIM in a 3G dongle - does the iPhoney do tethering and data sharing ? Another situation I had recently was when I needed to do some work on the roof - and as I didn't want to risk dropping my expensive phone and killing it, I put the SIM in an old phone for the duration (I did need to take a phone as I needed to be able to phone down to the office so someone could check if the wireless kit was working)

Roaming.

I would expect the whole reason for this is down to Roaming and especially Data Roaming.

Smartphones require a data connection to operate effectively. From e-mail to calendar, navigation and data exchange. Works great on your home network - even the measly 500MB given for many smartphones in the UK is enough for general smartphone use (i.e. not watching video, downloading CDs, tethering etc). You become accustomed to the always online experience.

However, you travel abroad and suddently your phone stops being smart. You disable data and only attempt to surf when you get WiFi. All due to costs.

Orange for exampe: UK 500MB = £5 : Europe 1MB = £3!

That's 30,000% more

There are some special deals but these only save about a £1 and have restrictions that may make you spend more.

Text messages can also be 500% more as well as calls costing 600% more (although often massively more due to phone plans)

So as any long term traveller knows, you just buy a PAYG SIM (for your unlocked phone) in the country you are visiting. You are then back to quite low rates for very little outlay.

This Apple deal seems like you wouldn't have to do any of this. You will always pay the low carrier local rate with Apple/Gemalto taking a service charge and redirecting your calls to your new SIM. Maybe it could even be extended to in-country roaming which might be very useful in America where you could use any network if your home network loses signal (similar to the Orange/T-mobile deal in the UK). Good news all round.

So this would now allow you to use a smartphone as a smartphone wherever you are without racking up multi-thousand pound bills.

Err CDMA?

Isn't this just a CDMA phone for Verizon?

CDMA carriers in the US don't use a R-UIM (the CDMA equivalent of a SIM/USIM).

@Nick22

"Removes the reason to jailbreak"

Disagree, people jailbreak them to get the functionality and personalisation features that Apple don't want you to have, certainly thats the main reason that I hear/see cited for doing so.

I agree on the fact this is a software configurable SIM though.

I don't think the average punter would want such a feature. Ok so if you switch networks you press a few buttons, rather than swapping a sim card, big deal, its not like its something you do every day is it. So, it must be easier for the carriers then, i.e. no benefit to the punter at all.

Apple aren't doing this for fun, they are doing this to make money, assuming that the carriers are not losing out that means the punter is going to end up paying more.

Probably charging you to "re-program" the SIM to switch networks, which of course there will be a charge.

Sounds like Steve is a) money grabbing and b) trying to control the punters even more.

Surely....

... this would be a risk as integrated SIMs like this would have to be programmable by the device to set up the relevant phone number for your chosen operator(s)? One clever hacker and you've got a device that can be easily reprogrammed to any number and operator.and disable as required.

Or maybe they are thinking the SIM would be set to one number & operator but able to roam onto any network for reception purposes. In Europe this kind of misses the boat as a lot of operators are already merging networks now making this kind of technical solution redundant.

I thought

a removable sim was an integral part of the GSM standard? I seem to recall some companies even started gluing them in, as they were technically still removable.

I can't see any user benefit to these, it's another way for apple and the networks to control things. Currently, the phone and sim are completely independent, you can use any sim in any phone, subject to some network restrictions, but any o2 sim will work in any o2 phone, for example. This extends that, suddenly you can't just put a sim in, you have to have the phone transferred to another contract in some way.

How long before we get "I'm sorry sir, we can't transfer your phone to that contract as it appears to be registered under a different name" to stop the trade in second hand phones?

Some benefits, but weary of Apple's grand plans

From a telco perspective - this could reduce cost through lower SIM distribution costs and a reduction in box breaking (ie a handset is sold with a SIM included, handset gets shipped overseas, SIM goes in the bin).

From a users perspective, assuming all networks were made available greater selection could result in improved price transparency and greater competition as lesser known mobile operators like giffgaff.com would be able to be included in the list. Also as InITForTheMoney mentioned perhaps some protection if the device is lost/stolen.

Regarding roaming/ switching to get best deals - it will be interesting to see their plans to tackle number portability. However if the plans to have porting within 2 hours comes into play, it might not be such a hassle to switch?

It would certainly change the 'affiliate'/ SIM distributors business models.

I'm on the fence - can see the benefits for the consumer, but equally I'm weary - surely Apple has their eye on revenue share options.

Not iPhone

Seems more likely to roll this out into the 2nd Gen iPad.

Then I can buy my data in pre-defined bundles from any network.

From experience with CDMA....

...I'd really fight this. I'm sick of having to call a busy toll-free number or log into a slow, unfriendly website and read off a 12 - 20 digit ESN in order to swap a number to a different handset. Add to that the website will half of the time respond telling you that you can't swap from THAT handset to THIS handset because one or the other supports different features, forcing you to call the toll-free line and wait on hold for 20 minutes.

Removable SIMs are far superior to ESN numbers