22 Facts About SIM card

SIM card is an integrated circuit intended to securely store the international mobile subscriber identity number and its related key, which are used to identify and authenticate subscribers on mobile telephony devices .

SIM card contains a unique serial number, international mobile subscriber identity number, security authentication and ciphering information, temporary information related to the local network, a list of the services the user has access to, and two passwords: a personal identification number for ordinary use, and a personal unblocking key for PIN unlocking.

In Europe, the serial SIM number is sometimes accompanied by an international article number or a European article number required when registering online for the subscription of a prepaid card.

SIM card is a type of smart card, the basis for which is the silicon integrated circuit chip.

SIM card was initially specified by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute in the specification with the number TS 11.

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Each SIM is internationally identified by its integrated circuit card identifier .

Each SIM card holds a unique Ki assigned to it by the operator during the personalisation process.

SIM card is designed to prevent someone from getting the Ki by using the smart-card interface.

Mini-SIM card has the same contact arrangement as the full-size SIM card and is normally supplied within a full-size card carrier, attached by a number of linking pieces.

Micro-SIM card has the same thickness and contact arrangements, but reduced length and width as shown in the table above.

The SIM card was designed to run at the same speed as the prior version.

Nano-SIM card was introduced on 11 October 2012, when mobile service providers in various countries started to supply it for phones that supported the format.

The USIM card brought, among other things, security improvements like mutual authentication and longer encryption keys and an improved address book.

On cdmaOne networks, the equivalent of the SIM card is the R-UIM and the equivalent of the SIM application is the CSIM.

An embedded SIM card is a form of programmable SIM card that is embedded directly into a device.

In M2M applications where there is no requirement to change the SIM card, this avoids the requirement for a connector, improving reliability and security.

An eSIM card can be provisioned remotely; end-users can add or remove operators without the need to physically swap a SIM card from the device.

An integrated SIM card is a form of SIM card directly integrated into the modem chip or main processor of the device itself.

SIM card introduced a new and significant business opportunity for MVNOs who lease capacity from one of the network operators rather than owning or operating a cellular telecoms network and only provide a SIM card to their customers.

Commonly sold as a product by mobile telecommunications companies, "SIM card-only" refers to a type of legally binding contract between a mobile network provider and a customer.

In terms of network usage, SIM card-only is typically more cost-effective than other contracts because the provider does not charge more to offset the cost of a mobile device over the contract period.

Dual-SIM card phones are useful to separate one's personal phone number from a business phone number, without having to carry multiple devices.