G&D develops auto roaming SIM card

MUNICH, GERMANY: Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) would showcase its auto roaming SIM card application at the GSM World Congress.

The solution, based on innovative SIM cards developed by G&D, could store IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) codes issued by two or more network operators and would be equipped with a special JavaTM applet. Thus users could automatically receive calls under one single number, anywhere.

In the past, this meant that service provider had to negotiate a large number of roaming agreements with other network operators – a time-consuming process that severely reduced the new provider’s chances of penetrating the market in the introductory phase.

The new auto roaming application, which is compatible with all types of JavaTM SIM card, would make it much easier for network operators to offer a full roaming service without losing time. All they need would be to arrive at an agreement with a single partner organisation to obtain the right to utilise their roaming service.

As a rule, this would be one of the major mobile operators that had its own global network or existing roaming agreements with other network operators throughout the world.



G&D has implemented the auto roaming application as a Java applet on the SIM card. Its use would be thus independent of the phone in which it is installed. The user does not need to switch between different IMSI numbers – this is done automatically. If necessary, the Java applet could be reconfigured over the air (OTA), i.e. through the cellphone network.

International roaming customers could also make use of this application that support auto roaming application and IMSI numbers of at least two network operators. The main IMSI would be used to identify subscriber when making calls from home provider’s network. In other countries, the mobile phone automatically would report its location using the IMSI of a partner operator and were thus able to utilise that operator’s roaming functions. Whereas, with this application callers would be able to use the same number to contact the called subscriber on their mobile phone.