Gemalto says it has added U.S. Cellular to the list of companies that will use its universal integrated circuit cards in LTE-enabled devices. The SIM cards allow carriers to authenticate subscribers to both LTE and CDMA networks. Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel are also using Gemalto’s solution.
Sebastien Cano, Gemalto’s VP of telecommunications, says a new IP protocol enables Gemalto’s SIM card to communicate more effectively with the carrier’s network. “Traditionally the technology that was used to handle the exchange was SMS,” says Cano. “The server would use SMS to encode comments and send them to the card. With this new generation of card we provide a new IP protocol that is much more reliable and efficient.”
The universal integrated circuit cards can be recognized by the network, so that it does not “push in a blind mode,” according to Cano. Instead, the network recognizes when the phone is on and sends updates then.
Gemalto says its universal integrated circuit card works with any 3G or LTE device, meaning that customers can use the same SIM card in multiple devices. The card also runs an IP multimedia services identity module, which can be used to enable mobile payments.
Currently, U.S. Cellular’s LTE devices include the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Samsung Galaxy S Aviator. The company made headlines late last year by turning down Apple’s offer to let it carry the iPhone, saying it would wait for the LTE version.
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