Gemalto unveils the industry-first 5G SIM compliant with the latest ETSI 3GPP specifications and SIMalliance recommendations

Gemalto unveils the industry-first 5G SIM compliant with the latest ETSI 3GPP specifications and SIMalliance recommendations

(PRESS RELEASE) AMSTERDAM, 21-Feb-2019 — /EuropaWire/ — Gemalto has just unveiled the industry-first 5G SIM that comply with the latest ETSI 3GPP specifications and SIMalliance recommendations. The 5G SIM will meet operator requirements for the new generation of network deployments that will emerge in 2019. It also provides improved data privacy, enhanced protection against hacking and seamless 5G global roaming.

According to Ericsson Mobile Report from November 2018, 5G network coverage is expected to reach 40% of the global population by 2024 with the subscriptions reaching  1.5 billion.

An enhanced mobile broadband, massive IoT applications, and critical communication infrastructure can all benefit from the new 5G SIM from Gemalto. Other major advantage of the new 5G  SIM will be the full anonymization of end-to-end subscriber identities thanks to onboard identity encryption.

According to the company, the new 5G SIM will be made available in all SIM form factors such as removable SIM, M2M SIM, eSIM, etc., before the summer of 2019. It is expected to eliminate the potential of misuse such information to locate and trace individuals, or collect personal data, and ensures mobile operators will comply with GDPR regulations.

Hacking attacks and accidental breaches will also be eliminated by the trusted environment resilience that will help operators secure the entire SIM lifecycle.

Furthermore, operators will see maximized revenues and improved customer experience thanks to the seamless 5G roaming experience, which will also be supported by the new 5G SIM.

The new 5G SIM by Gemalto has gone through standardization, prototyping and testing  in close collaborations and partnerships with key 5G industry stakeholders around the world.

In general, the 5G SIM is a tamper proof secure element and in fact is the only solution allowed to secure 5G network access. The 5G standardization body ETSI-3GPP has the 5G SIM specified in Release 15 UICC specifications (UICC: Universal Integrated Circuit Card, better known as a SIM).

Emmanuel Unguran, EVP Mobile Services & IoT Business Unit, for Gemalto:

“The 5G SIM provides the foundation of trust in this next generation mobile network for operators and other stakeholders in the eco-system. It will help operators unleash the full 5G potential, maximize their network investments, and simplify new service deployment with full backward compatibility to previous 3G/4G technology.”

Gautam Sheoran, Senior Director, Product Management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.:

“Qualcomm Technologies has a longstanding relationship with Gemalto focused on delivering mobile solutions with robust security. We are now extending this collaboration to allow OEMs to easily develop exciting 5G devices with strong security, using both Gemalto 5G SIM and our next generation flagship Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 855 Mobile Platform to pave the path for 5G commercialization in 2019.”

SOURCE: Gemalto