G&D puts together complete SIM solution for wireless operators

GERMANY: Mobile phone network operators could make huge savings by drastically reducing the resources needed for stocking SIMs, whether at their head office, distribution center or in stores.

This is made possible by Giesecke & Devrient's (G&D) triple SIM card and market-leading subscription management software solution: wireless operators can now stock a single SIM card instead of the many different SIM cards they currently have to.

The triple SIM brings together all SIM form factors for different devices on a single card, while the subscription management solution takes care of selecting the correct profile on the SIM chip. This profile determines whether the card is a pre-paid or contract card.

G&D's triple SIM combines all form factors, from ID-1 (credit card format) to the classic plug-in format (2FF), through to the micro-SIM (3FF) and nano-SIM (4FF). In practice, this means that the same SIM card can be used in many different devices.

The nano-SIM is slightly thinner than the rest of the card body, thereby meeting ETSI standards. Network operators now only need to stock one physical SIM card variant instead of multiple. The end customer benefits from not having to find out what type of card is needed for their device. Furthermore, if a customer changes their device, the SIM can be adapted to the correct form factor.

In addition, network operators currently have to stock different versions for each SIM card form factor, depending on the individual electronic profile saved on the SIM chip. "With G&D's market-leading AirOn subscription management platform, network operators no longer have to worry about this problem, which significantly simplifies the SIM card ordering process," says Carsten Ahrens, Group senior VP of the Server Software and Services (3S) division at G&D.

Such SIM cards also come preinstalled with a subscription management client, which G&D's subscription management platform uses to access the SIM card over-the-air, configure it and provide it with the mobile telephony customer's subscriber data.