The Mobile Phone Industry may be in for a huge shake up as industry titans Apple and Samsung are reportedly working with major Telecom companies on a new Electronic Sim Card that will change how consumers sign up with mobile carriers.
The Financial Times broke the news earlier today. According to their report, several top Telecom companies like AT&T, Deutsche Telecom, Etisalat, Hutchinson Whampoa, Orange, Telefonica, and Vodafone are all on board the plan.
The paper says that the GSMA, the organization which represents mobile carriers around the globe, is close to announcing a deal which will see traditional, removable Sims replaced by embedded Sim cards in most consumer devices.
Anne Bouverot, chief executive of the GSMA, said that both the Smartphone companies and Telcos were heading towards an agreement for the "common architecture".
"We have got everyone back on one point, with Apple and Samsung agreeing to be part of that specification," said Ms Bouverot. "We have been working with them and others to create an industry solution for machines and will agree a solution for consumer electronics."
The plan is to have the new Sims in devices as early as next year. In their official statement, The GSMA said:
"With the majority of operators on board, the plan is to finalise the technical architecture that will be used in the development of an end-to-end remote SIM solution for consumer devices, with delivery anticipated by 2016."
Current Sim Cards lock users into whatever carrier the card is assigned to. But under this new proposed E-Sim scheme, customers have the choice of switching freely between any network that supports the new technology. It will be interesting to see how the Industry adapts to this new idea.
