No other smart card has taken the world by storm the way the Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) has. Since it was introduced on the market 15 years ago, the SIM card has seen its power and performance soar. At first, it "merely" served security and personalization functions in GSM networks. Today, it turns mobile phones into versatile, secure terminals for wireless customers.
Munich technology group Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is celebrating a special anniversary. It was 15 years ago that the first commercial SIM cards were delivered to Finnish mobile communications corporation Elisa, at that time still known as Radiolinja.
In its initial stages of development, the SIM card was intended to make mobile telephony in GSM networks as secure as talking on the phone of a fixed-line network. To accomplish that, it was designed to clearly establish the identity of wireless customers in order to prevent mobile networks from being abused. Additionally, it was meant to safeguard the confidentiality of user data. Its second key feature was its flexibility. Whenever customers changed phones, the SIM card could simply be transferred to the new handset.
"Fifteen years ago, Radiolinja was a pioneer in the implementation of new mobile communications technologies, both in Europe and around the world. We showed a correspondingly positive attitude towards the new medium of the SIM card, the security features of which had us convinced from the very beginning. Over the years, our partnership with G&D has proved its worth because G&D has matched our constant desire for innovation with a steady stream of new, powerful SIM products," says Kari Partanen, VP of Interconnection and Roaming, Elisa and, as the third employee of Radiolinja, one of those around when the first SIM card order was placed.
Elisa currently plans to make extensive use of the strongly increased performance capability of the SIM card for new mobile services, digital signatures for example. A SIM card with integrated contactless technology is also in the pipeline. That would enable Elisa subscribers, for example, to purchase and validate tickets by simply waving their mobile phones past a reader.
The first SIM cards in 1991 cost approximately 15 euros and had very limited memory of only three kilobytes for specific user data and relatively low computing power. Today's most widely sold SIM cards offer 64 kilobytes of such storage, with the price only a fraction of what it was in 1991. Their combination with traditional storage methods (flash memory) widens the card's performance range considerably.
With memory sizes in the mega- or even gigabyte range, the Subscriber Identity Module becomes a standardized medium for numerous secure, mobile value-added services, such as entertainment, payment, and ticketing. The coming high-speed interface between the SIM card and the handset will also provide the means for efficient digital rights management of downloaded files.
"Over the past 15 years, the SIM card has enabled us to do a lot for mobile communications, and the future looks promising. With our GalaxSIM card, which offers up to 512 megabytes of memory, we have opened up the door to storing music files, video clips, and even extensive phone books. ProxSIM, G&D's SIM card for contactless interfaces, enables handset and reader to exchange data over the air. Today, SIM cards from G&D turn mobile phones into multifunctional lifestyle tools and, above all, instruments of personal security. I am certain the SIM card, in the hands of network operators, will expand its key role as a secure, portable module in these times of growing need for security," says G&D's Dr. Vedder."
Posted to the site on 22nd August 2006
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/18932.php