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Telefónica pushes for e-SIM; LatAm countries collaborate on international roaming

by Roberta Prescott
written by Roberta Prescott Share
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Telefónica pushes support for e-SIM standard, and other LatAm news from MWC

BARCELONA, Spain – Telefónica’s German unit is set to be the first carrier to launch a device embedded with an electronic SIM card with the Samsung Gear S2 Classic 3G, which is expected to reach the market in the second quarter of this year.

In a press conference at this year’s Mobile World Congress event, Pedro Gil Morales, head of global OS strategy at Telefónica, said the telecom operator is working with other global carriers, handset manufacturers, SIM card makers and the GSMA on an e-SIM standard. Telefónica is looking to act as a catalyst in the program, which is expected to provide support for the growth in mobile device connections tied to the “Internet of Things.”

Morales said the shift from physical SIM cards to an e-SIM will require Telefónica to adapt all its processes.

“We won’t need to buy SIM cards,” Morales said. “Manufacturers of handsets will do that. But we still need to buy the system to manage the information the e-SIM comprises,” which includes investments in data centers and security to store e-SIM profiles.

Collaboration towards international roaming

Regulator authorities from Chile, Mexico and Colombia plan to work together on improving telecom services. Delegates from all three countries met at MWC and agreed to share information and develop a study looking at international roaming. One of the goals is to generate public policies designed to go beyond economic interests, ensuring the social development of countries using telecommunications.

Oi taps Gemalto for mobile marketing solution

Brazilian mobile operator Oi launched an application-based technology designed to optimizes content for smartphones. The carrier, which unveiled the platform at MWC, said the move is expected to improve customer engagement and monetization. The mobile marketing channel solution – called SmartApp – uses Gemalto’s SIM-based LinqUs Mobile engagement and monetization platform.

Editor’s Note: Samsung provided travel costs to Mobile World Congress.

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Editor, [email protected] Roberta Prescott is responsible for Latin America reporting news and analysis, interviewing key stakeholders. Roberta has worked as an IT and telecommunication journalist since March 2005, when she started as a reporter with InformationWeek Brasil magazine and its website IT Web. In July 2006, Prescott was promoted to be the editor-in-chief, and, beyond the magazine and website, was in charge for all ICT products, such as IT events and CIO awards. In mid-2010, she was promoted to the position of executive editor, with responsibility for all the editorial products and content of IT Mídia. Prescott has worked as a journalist since 1998 and has three journalism prizes. In 2009, she won, along with InformationWeek Brasil team, the press prize 11th Prêmio Imprensa Embratel. In 2008, she won the 7th Unisys Journalism Prize and in 2006 was the editor-in-chief when InformationWeek Brasil won the 20th media award Prêmio Veículos de Comunicação. She graduated in Journalism by the Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas, has done specialization in journalism at the Universidad de Navarra (Spain, 2003) and Master in Journalism at IICS – Universidad de Navarra (Brazil, 2010) and MBA – Executive Education at the Getulio Vargas Foundation.

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