Is it true they are doing away with SIM cards you insert into GSM cell phones?

[azurecrimsonrose]

I was talking with a techology buff friend of mine and he was telling me how they are starting to do away with the SIM card you insert into a GSM phone and now just having them come installed in the device instead, like what Verizon Wireless and Sprint are doing with their "global" devices.  Is AT&T going to do this as well?  

[Anonymous]

Never going to happen. SIm cards are a Key to make the device active. For Verizon & Sprint, if the phones do not work in Europe, you can rent a phone for use in those countries.

[azurecrimsonrose]

Well, I just heard about this somewhere and was wondering it hat was going to happen or not.  I am glad to hear that it's not becuase I prefer the GSM phones over CDMA.  

[jii]

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@gregzoll_1 wrote:
Never going to happen. SIm cards are a Key to make the device active. For Verizon & Sprint, if the phones do not work in Europe, you can rent a phone for use in those countries.

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Not too sure about the "never" part, as Apple filed a patent for virtual SIM tech either last year or late in 2011. That said, with current phones being able to operate fully in a WiFi environment (even providing simultaneous voice and data transmission) thus bypassing the SIM on top of how everything from system settings and downloaded app lists to contact and wallet info can now be stored on a cloud, I don't see why we couldn't so SIM free with our GSMs sometime in the future.

[callie.crk.kuczek]

That is very interesting.  I wonder if this is going to happen in the future with the way cell phones are nowadays.

[christopher_britt]

I heard this rumor also, but SIM cards are provisional & security fundamental... Without it, one could go back to "cloning" phones like in the 80's and 90's...

[Lukear9]

AT&T employees are actually not allowed to discuss or comment on rumors, so you wont ever know until it actually happens.

[callie.crk.kuczek]

"Cloning" a phone?  I have never heard of this.  What is it?

[cormaster]

My issue is sim cards die, so you build it in, your phone dies.

[callie.crk.kuczek]

Hmmmm...  I have never had a problem with a SIM card "dying".  

[jii]

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@christopher_britt wrote:
I heard this rumor also, but SIM cards are provisional & security fundamental... Without it, one could go back to "cloning" phones like in the 80's and 90's..

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Cloning phones is still very much possible now, and not just a thing of the "80s and 90s" like you say. Just a heads up.

[Blue4Life]

I would hope not, as it would make it more difficult for people to switch phones on a regular basis. Sprint & VZW mainly use the IMEI of the phone itself, and you would need to either contact cs or go to their web site to switch to another phone instead of simply moving the sim card to another phone. This is one of the advantages of using a GSM carrier.

[G-mobile]

When you say "the SIM already build in" you have to elaborate. Sprint, and Verizon have SIMs so they can access 4G LTE speeds. That 4G LTE SIM is different than the SIM that acts as the phones "brain". With newer phones Verizon has begun to have the SIM "pre-installed" like Sprint( if that's what you were meaning in the first place). I don't see the SIM(brain) in GSM phones going away anytime soon, BUT with the way technology is, I'm pretty sure we can look forward to something in the near future.

[Jules1960]

Very Interesting, something to keep on the radar!!!!

[little birdy]

I wish this wasnt going to happen.  ATNT made my visual voicemail stop working (after it had worked fine for the first couple weeks, and when i told them about it they said it wont work with my type of phone), and also my offline music subscription. Now I got the music working fine by removing my sym card. But my phone wasnt a phone anymore.  Then I was forced to wipe my phone bc it insisted I had the password wrong, very funny thing is, now both the offline music and the visual voicemail are working, with the sym card in the phone.  Coincidence?  Maybe, but I have had too many weird things happen with ATNT to really believe that.  Visual voicemail is really nice, I used to fail to see when I had a new voicemail.  I really want to keep my symcards removeable.  (I am not blaming atnt for the password messup, it was a blessing to be forced to wipe the phone after all, it could have been just me on that one !)