[January 31st 2000] A significant consortium of four leading global smart card manufacturers has been formed with the primary aim of maximizing the
GSM Operator's benefits from SIM Card and SIM Application Toolkit usage in the growth of
value-added-services.
Called SIMalliance, the idea was first discussed during World Telecom '99 in Geneva. Since then, the
four founding members Gemplus, Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), ORGA Kartensysteme and
Schlumberger have wasted no time in officially establishing the consortium. It comes at a time when
the major concerns and challenges in mobile communications are the raft of proprietary operating systems that are inevitably created, competing against each other not always in the interests of end users, or the interoperability that will drive the industry as a whole.
Dr.Klaus Vedder, Executive Vice President Telecommunications at Giesecke &
Devrient, thinks nobody should be too surprised. "SIMalliance is a natural progression. Within ETSI, SIMalliance
members have been driving GSM standardization forward for over 10 years."
In the real world proprietary systems will always exist, of course. The aim of SIMalliance is to
produce open and global specifications essential in facilitating mass-market penetration of new
SIM-based applications and services. It aims to accelerate the introduction of services designed for
WAP, by exploiting existing GSM handsets and infrastructure. As the concept of the mobile Internet
becomes reality, software rather than hardware interoperability will be the key concern for issuers and users, creating the need for good Virtual Machines (VM's) and interpreters.
The industry is only too well aware of the value of interoperable solutions, as Eric Tholomé, Product
Line Manager for Mobile Communications Servers and Applications at Schlumberger was quick to
point out. "Over The Air technology, although a commercial success for operators, has so far not
reached its full potential because of interoperability reasons. Therefore, the aim of SIMalliance is to
get it right from the start and get it right quickly."
At the new SIMalliance headquarters in Brussels, two groups of representatives from each member
company meet on a regular basis. It is the responsibility of The Technical Development Group
(TDG) to draw up the new specifications, whilst the Business Development Group (BDG) handles the
marketing, promotional and industry communications requirements. The two groups are coordinated
by the SIMalliance Chairman, who in this launch year is Vincent Biraud, Product Marketing Manager
at Schlumberger.
The SIMalliance is already announcing its first open global specification. S@T (SIM
@lliance Toolbox), the new specification for interoperable systems and products for the mediation of
WML-based (WAP) services to SIM Toolkit enabled phase2+ handsets.
Four major competitors sitting round the table together, can it really work? Phillipe Martineau, VP of
Next Generation Networks Group from Gemplus is confident they have made a promising start. "We
see S@T, the first output of the group, as being the catalyst for enabling WAP based services to be
delivered to a broader base of customers".
The consortium welcomes new members who are able to contribute to its stated objectives,
especially experts in the SIM and SIM Application Toolkit fields, as well as operators and service
providers who desire to maximize the implementation of SIM-based applications and solutions.
Representing the fourth alliance member, Heinz Schaefers, Head of International Marketing and
Sales at ORGA Kartensysteme, is in no doubt about the important future role the SIMalliance will play within the entire global telecommunications community. "SIMalliance members estimate that 70
million customers with SIM Application Toolkit-enabled handsets can benefit from S@T."
1. What is SIMalliance? A new consortium of 4 leading global providers of SIM cards(Subscriber
Identification Module, a smart card inserted into GSM mobile phones for identification and security)
and Over The Air (OTA) platforms for remotely programming SIM cards.
2. Why has SIMalliance been created? To specify the open, global standards the Operators
community needs for truly interoperable products for implementation now.
3. Who belongs to the SIMalliance? The four founding members are Gemplus,
Schlumberger, Geisecke & Devrient and ORGA, together representing the innovative worldwide force in SIM, SIM
Toolkit and OTA platform solutions.
4. Who may join SIMalliance? The SIMalliance welcomes experts, operators and service providers in
the SIM and SIM Toolkit fields able to help further its stated objectives.
5. Who is the single point of contact? The SIMalliance Chairman (a rotating position) is Vincent
Biraud of Schlumberger.
