SIM cards are a pain. They’re tiny, easy to lose, and it can be an ordeal to go to a carrier store and get a new SIM card. The electronic SIM is going to change that, though, and two major manufacturers may soon back it.
According to the Financial Times, Apple and Samsung are working with the GSMA (the association that represents carriers from around the world) to adopt a standardized electronic SIM for the mobile industry. Yes, the two companies that’ve sued each other for billions of dollars in several countries around the globe have agreed on something. So far, carriers like AT&T, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Hutchinson Whampoa, Orange, Telefónica, and Vodafone have all voiced their support for the standard. Here’s what the GSMA had to say on the matter:
“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.”
The electronic SIM card would replace the traditional plastic SIM that many of us have handled (and probably lost) in the past. Since they would be embedded into the device and wouldn’t require swapping in order to change carriers, it’d be far easier to change from one network to another with an electronic SIM than it would be with a plastic SIM. And with the support of carriers from around the globe as well as major mobile manufacturers like Apple and Samsung, we could finally see the end of the plastic SIM sometime in the next couple of years. Hooray for no more fumbling with tiny plastic SIMs!