Dial360 Blog

The European Telecommunications Standards Institute has finally approved a new SIM standard based on similartechnology used by the USB connectors in computers.

The standard could eventually lead to rollouts of SIMs supporting Internet and other multimedia applications. The new technology will provide a fast interface between handsets and SIM cards. At present, SIMs and handsets communicate at relatively slow speeds as the communication link is still based on smart card technology introduced 20 years ago. With USB, cards and phones would transfer data at up to 12 megabits per second. This would allow downloads of data such as picture phonebooks and links between SIMs and PCs. It will eventually enable convergence between handsets, PCs and other devices using the SIM as a focal point.

It is expected that USB could take between 18 months and two years to reach the market because handsets will require new chipsets to support a USB-based SIM

Read more on this here and here