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July 14, 2010

SIM cards (subscriber identity module) are getting better, this time using LTE technology. SIM cards consist of small chips that house all of a subscriber's data for GSM-based networks. But today, LTE (long term evolution) technology is advancing rapidly, and while the potential of M2M (machine-to-machine) wireless communications is advancing even faster, SIMs are now being adapted to the newer and faster technology.

In some developing countries, the SIM card has a visible role to play in that it keeps contacts with the user, not the cell phone, and it also authenticates the phone to its intended network as well, thus playing a very vital role.

In more advanced markets such as the U.S., Canada and Mexico, it's not so much involved in the user interface, but in monitoring network behavior. Once wireless carriers fully deploy LTE service, the SIM card will be able to more easily conduct over-the-air updates.

Today's SIM cards are limited to sending commands in 160-character text messages. Sending more advanced commands via the technology has been rather cumbersome, however. Network operators can do some remote maintenance, but it's not as reliable. With the transition to LTE (an IP protocol) the SIM card can perform a lot more functions, and be a lot more 'intelligent' at the same time.

Overall, today's modern SIM cards are now offered in three standard formats: as a straight (read: dumb) SIM card, as an embedded secure element of a MID (mobile Internet device) and as a secure micro-SD, which is the ideal type for today's high-performance LTE technology.

Rugged form factors for SIM cards are appealing to various handset makers that want an embedded M2M solution.

Sebastian Cano, vice president of telecommunications for Gemalto NV, the world's largest SIM card manufacturer says "The LTE SIM card is evolving from a simple card that can store and authenticate a user to the network to a Universal Integrated Circuit Card."

Overall, the prospects for SIM deployments are great as CDMA providers like Verizon Wireless and MetroPCS Communications deploy LTE services, thus increasing the potential marketing base for smartcard solutions in the U.S., said Heather Klein, director of marketing communications at Giesecke & Devrient, which also makes SIM cards.

Today, wireless carriers want to ensure interoperability between their CDMA and LTE networks, and at all costs.

Some of the best areas of growth will be in the NFC (near-field communications) space and in the growing vertical market sectors that need M2M communications. As NFC gains traction around the globe, both SIM manufacturers expect financial institutions, which already use smart cards, to embed wireless technology in them.

But one of the issues with the intersection of wireless services and financial services is who owns the customer, Cano said. Having a third-party solutions provider is one way to solve that problem.

Both Gemalto and G&D have been acquiring companies in recent years to expand their presence in the smart-card space.

For its part, Motorola is introducing what it calls an Intelligent SIM platform that lays over the SIM card. The micro-miniature four millimeter-thick wafer connects the mobile device and the SIM, which can enable wireless carriers and enterprises to write mobile apps on the SIM and manage security protocols, said Venkat Eswara, Motorola's director of marketing for its Applications and Mobile Video Services division.

Motorola's iSIM is now geared for 3G networks as they are implemented today. However, the company plans to move into LTE technology very soon. Motorola's new platform is already available in three chip configurations – as a low-end microcontroller chip, as an NXP Java applet and as an NFC chip.

The iSIM platform can store up to four different SIM profiles, which is important for wireless users that travel internationally and need to roam, and for enterprises that are security-focused, like mobile banking applications.

Motorola is targeting large enterprises with its platform, noting that large companies can use the iSIM platform to manage the work environment apps of employees who use different networks and different wireless carriers.

Bipper Communications is the first company to launch Motorola's platform to offer parents a way to manage their child's mobile-phone use, including a safety alarm and GPS location-based service from a few Web portals that have been designed specifically for those tasks.

Last month, a new report from WiseHarbor Research revealed that wireless broadband technologies, including LTE, HSPA and the CDMA 2000 1x EV-DO implementation should be dominating the mobile segment until at least 2020, though the rise isn't expected to hit its peak until about 2015.

WiseHarbor, which laid out a number of forecasts for the next ten years, said it expects mobile broadband technologies will actually bridge the digital divide through the current decade for Web and data communications by 2020.

It also added that this will follow the lead that GSM and CDMA 2000 1x achieved in the voice and text messaging segment.

The Asia Pacific region is also expected to lead the world in mobile broadband and LTE device sales beginning in 2011, according to the report, which added that developed nations will lead in devices sold per capita.

On the other hand, global revenues from mobile handsets, wireless modems and embedded modules is expected to peak in in about five years before being hit by dropping selling prices and saturated demand.

Revenue growth will then come from non-traditional wireless devices that will see some increase in connectivity options for mobile users.

“Whereas WiMAX has made significant business progress by occupying the unpaired spectrum that tends to be much less costlier than the paired spectrum used for CDMA-based technologies including EV-DO and HSPA, TD-LTE will still eclipse WiMAX technology by prevailing in the use of unpaired spectrum as well as the paired spectrum already employed commercially by LTE,” the report suggests.

“Overall commitment to TD-LTE technology by China Mobile in particular and significant commonalities between LTE and manufactured products with TDD and FDD modes will marginalize WiMAX in the marketplace over the next few years,” the report says.

WiseHarbor also noted that LTE technology will mirror the success of GSM, but that it won't be until 2016 before LTE accounts for more than 25 percent of mobile broadband device sales.

It also won't match device sales from CDMA-based technologies and HSPA/HSPA+ technologies combined until 2019, said WiseHarbor.

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Source: Motorola Inc.