Apple and Samsung are reportedly talking with mobile operators about a plan to kill the traditional SIM cards and launch electronic ones. But don't get too excited because we need to wait until 2016 before both smartphone makers release devices that use electronic SIMs (e-SIMs).
The GSM Association (GSMA), an association representing more than 800 mobile operators and 250 companies, are expected to soon announce an agreement that would ask smartphone makers to create devices that would use e-SIMs.
"With the majority of operators on board, the plan is to finalize 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," Anne Bouverot, chief executive of the GSMA, told the Financial Times.
"We have got everyone back on one point, with Apple and Samsung agreeing to be part of that specification. We have been working with them and others to create an industry solution for machines and will agree [on] a solution for consumer electronics.”
Some of the identified mobile operators that are open to switching include AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchison Whampoa, Orange, Telefónica and Vodafone.
So what exactly is an e-SIM and how would consumers benefit from it? Pocketlint wrote some FAQs about this technology. To summarize it, e-SIMs are embedded SIM cards that do not need to be removed from the device. Mobile operators will have access to rewrite its information so one user can easily switch to another network by a single call, thus no more waiting for a new SIM to arrive.
