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October 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 2
Russia's Tele2 tests new sim card technology
eSim is a technology that's expected to replace a traditional plastic sim card inserted into
a mobile phone. With this technology, a smart phone, tablet or smart watch is equipped with a special module that operates in the same way as a traditional sim card.
A user only needs to scan a QR code provided by their mobile phone operator to activate the eSim module and subsequently use the device in a regular way. Basically, eSim allows operators to issue virtual sim cards to their customers.
Currently, only the most recent generation smartphones have an eSim module, such as iPhone XS, iPhone XR or iPhone 11, but observers believe the technology is likely to spread quickly, and phone operators need to be prepared.
Tele2 was Russia's first mobile phone operator to start offering virtual sim cards to its customers. The first virtual sim cards for eSim-equipped devices were sold in late April, but then the operator suddenly suspended the eSim operations.
Tele2 initially planned to issue 5,000 virtual sim cards but never revealed how many have been actually sold. As it turned out, the mobile phone operator stopped issuing virtual sim cards at
a request of the communications ministry. The agency, in turn, said the ban on eSim technology was going to be installed temporarily, "until security issues have been resolved."
The ministry never specified the "security issues." Meanwhile, RBC reported that objections against the use of eSim technology came from the security service FSB. Incidentally, just a few months earlier, FSB said it could be involved
in the development of the fifth generation (5G) mobile phone infrastructure in Russia, providing cryptographic solutions and Sim cards for 5G
networks and, in the longer run, also replacing imported network equipment with locally- manufactured analogues.
Back then, experts pointed out that 5G networks would more likely use eSim technology than traditional sim cards. Predictably, neither FSB, nor any other Russian government agencies commented on the communications ministry's ban on using eSim.
Still, after a five-month pause, the communications ministry has now given a go-ahead to eSim testing without explaining what security issues have been fixed and how.
According to Ivanov, FSB doesn't have any problems with Tele2 issuing virtual sim cards at this point. Subscribers who activated their devices' eSim modules will now be able to use virtual sim cards.
The test run aims to try the eSim technology with a broad range of devices and see if virtual sim cards are able to work correctly alongside regular sim cards issued by other operators. Tele2 also intends to figure out what regulatory issues may be involved.
The subscriber identification process for virtual sim cards is the same as for regular sim cards. Namely, an individual has to show up in person
at a mobile phone operator's outlet and present their ID to be issued a virtual sim card. The only difference is that instead of a plastic sim card a subscriber will be issued a QR code to be scanned by their device.
Meanwhile, the communications ministry anticipates that at a later stage, individuals will be able to obtain virtual sim cards remotely. Currently, several possible options for identification are under consideration by the ministry, one of which is the existing online portal for government services, Ivanov said.