Mobile News

Singapore operator M1 has launched a series of STK offerings including its Citibank menu-driven service which provides access to account details, transfers and credit extensions

France Telecom’s Itichat pilot for m-payments uses a SIMphonic STK from Oberthur Card Systems in conjunction with a Motorola StarTAC D dual slot handset. As a proven technology the SIM manages the interface with the separate Cartes Bancaires smart card. However, handset adaptations probably limit the global potential of this dual-slot, STK-based solution.

Although WAP, as an open standard with standardised web browser, improves upon the more limited STK model, the SIM Toolkit is still evolving. In tandem with efforts to standardise STK browsers, there have been initiatives to promote interoperability since not all handsets support all STK applications–Oberthur and Schlumberger, in conjunction with Telecom Italia’s Research Centre, have revealed how a STK application written in Java v2.1 can work with different SIM cards. STK applications have also prospered in an m-commerce environment denied full WAP handset support: MVNO Virgin opted for STK because it provides more service throughout the customer handset base. Moreover, STK applications allow operators to differentiate their m-commerce services while, to date, personal data can be more securely stored on the SIM than on the mobile internet. Despite the closed nature of STK solutions, it is worth noting the global adoption of SIM-centred solutions: Chinese and South Korean mobile operators have been long-time proponents of adding SIM cards to CDMA handsets, a convergence answered by the creation of the Removable User Identity Module (RUIM). In Spring 2000 China Mobile began offering mobile banking services, including bill payment and funds transfer, using 32K SIMs supplied by Sun Microsystems. Gemplus offers the RUIM-based GemXplore World, which is both CDMA and GSM compliant.

Java-based SIM cards offer one route towards interoperability, allowing centralised applet development and entailing a product that can be personalised for every user through the inclusion of share dealing and shopping modules. At the 2001 GSM World Congress in Cannes, leading smart card manufacturers Gemplus, Oberthur and Schlumberger announced a collaboration with Sun Microsystems to develop completely interoperable Java SIM cards. An example of an innovative Java-based STK solution that builds on existing handset functionality is the February 2001 announcement of Schlumberger’s Cyberflex N@vigate solution. Based on existing SMS network infrastructure and using a Simera Java SIM, Phase 2+ subscribers can access WML and XML content, thus enabling m-commerce services. Another standard driving SIM development is MULTOS, the multi-application operating system for smart cards which enables inter-application communication on the card. In January 2001 SIM card supplier Bluefish Technologies and SIM platform provider mobEcom announced a partnership to promote secure m-commerce solutions based on mobEcom’s MULTOS-based SecureSIM platform.