Apple’s newest iPads come with a universal SIM card that’s designed to let users switch between mobile carriers without physically swapping SIMs. That should prove popular with customers, but it’s not so appealing to U.S. carriers — and in Europe, the virtual SIM is a virtual orphan, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Among U.S. carriers, the largest, Verizon, isn’t participating in the Apple SIM, and number-two AT&T is locking out all other carriers the first time it’s selected, leaving just Sprint and T-Mobile using the Apple SIM as intended.
But in the U.K., only one carrier — EE, the largest — has signed up to work with Apple SIM. Vodafone has announced it will be selling the iPad Air 2 with its own SIM cards and data plans, while the U.K.’s other biggest mobile carriers, O2 and Three, haven’t signed up or commented on Apple SIM.
A Vodafone spokesperson told the Wall Street Journal that the company is working with the GSMA, a mobile-operators’ industry association, to develop global standards for interoperable SIMs.
Officially, Apple says its universal SIM isn’t available outside the U.S. and U.K. But some European carriers have apparently already been approached and said no. In France, Orange cited security concerns and the fact that the SIM is “a strategic asset” for not signing up. In Germany, Deutsche Telekom said it is also working with the GSMA and declined further comment. (The U.K.’s EE is jointly owned by Orange and Deutsche Telecom.) And Telefonica’s German unit said it hasn’t decided whether to support the Apple SIM.
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