Justice Department investigating AT&T and Verizon for blocking eSIM adoption, Apple report...
According to sources familiar with the matter, the U.S. Department of Justice is investigating claims that AT&T, Verizon, and standards organization GSMA colluded to scuttle eSIM technology which would make switching carriers easier.
![SIM cards](https://apple.insidercdn.com/gallery/25745-35582-sim-cards-l.jpg)
According to a report on Friday by the New York Times, a device maker and a wireless carrier filed complaints in November or December 2017 with the DOJ. One source claims the device maker is Apple, the report said.
The complaints allege that AT&T, Verizon, and standards-setting GSMA were working together in secret to establish new standards that would lock out the consumer-friendly eSIM technology, and all of the benefits that it entails.
At the GSMA RIG meeting in January, both AT&T and Verizon are said to have pushed for enhanced ability to lock phones to a network. According to the pair, the ability is important to control theft of the devices -- and would bypass eSIM entirely.
The still-new eSIM technology would remove the need for the small cards that are shipped to customers to allow the phone to access a carrier's network. Instead, the settings for each carrier would be updated in software, allowing for near-instantaneous transfers of an unlocked device from one carrier to another, without the need of that physical card, or the need to have a SIM card reader in a smartphone.
Starting in February, the DOJ demanded information about the technology, and communications between the trio to determine if there was a secret effort to prevent the technology from getting a solid foothold in the market. According to the latest data provided by AT&T and Verizon, the pair control about 72 percent of the wireless market in the United States, and any move to increase friction for customers wanting to switch carriers would maintain that dominance, in the face of increased competition from T-Mobile, Sprint, or smaller pre-paid carriers not owned or controlled by the larger four.
The list of hardware companies that may have complained to the DOJ is smaller. Apple uses the eSIM technology in the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE. Google has adopted it in the Google Pixel 2, with LTE-capable Microsoft Surface devices and the Samsung Gear S2 incorporating it as well.
A similar technology called Apple SIM has been adopted for the iPad, but is specific to those devices, and not the universal standard that the eSIM is supposed to be. Early predictions about the Apple SIM technology suggested that it would serve as a launching platform for the eSIM technology, with carriers and device manufacturers implementing it more heavily after they saw the flexibility of the technology in the iPad, but as of yet, that future has not materialized.
Update: This story has been updated to identify Apple as the device maker that filed the DOJ complaint.
![SIM cards](https://apple.insidercdn.com/gallery/25745-35582-sim-cards-l.jpg)
According to a report on Friday by the New York Times, a device maker and a wireless carrier filed complaints in November or December 2017 with the DOJ. One source claims the device maker is Apple, the report said.
The complaints allege that AT&T, Verizon, and standards-setting GSMA were working together in secret to establish new standards that would lock out the consumer-friendly eSIM technology, and all of the benefits that it entails.
At the GSMA RIG meeting in January, both AT&T and Verizon are said to have pushed for enhanced ability to lock phones to a network. According to the pair, the ability is important to control theft of the devices -- and would bypass eSIM entirely.
The still-new eSIM technology would remove the need for the small cards that are shipped to customers to allow the phone to access a carrier's network. Instead, the settings for each carrier would be updated in software, allowing for near-instantaneous transfers of an unlocked device from one carrier to another, without the need of that physical card, or the need to have a SIM card reader in a smartphone.
Starting in February, the DOJ demanded information about the technology, and communications between the trio to determine if there was a secret effort to prevent the technology from getting a solid foothold in the market. According to the latest data provided by AT&T and Verizon, the pair control about 72 percent of the wireless market in the United States, and any move to increase friction for customers wanting to switch carriers would maintain that dominance, in the face of increased competition from T-Mobile, Sprint, or smaller pre-paid carriers not owned or controlled by the larger four.
The list of hardware companies that may have complained to the DOJ is smaller. Apple uses the eSIM technology in the Apple Watch Series 3 with LTE. Google has adopted it in the Google Pixel 2, with LTE-capable Microsoft Surface devices and the Samsung Gear S2 incorporating it as well.
A similar technology called Apple SIM has been adopted for the iPad, but is specific to those devices, and not the universal standard that the eSIM is supposed to be. Early predictions about the Apple SIM technology suggested that it would serve as a launching platform for the eSIM technology, with carriers and device manufacturers implementing it more heavily after they saw the flexibility of the technology in the iPad, but as of yet, that future has not materialized.
Update: This story has been updated to identify Apple as the device maker that filed the DOJ complaint.
Comments
I suggest that Apple should fix fundamental problems first instead of worring about supporting future technology by providers while it is unlikely to be supported in foreign countries for some time. Otherwise iPhone is a toy and not enterprise for business use... unfortunatelly. I wish it had no glitches like this because when it works it works well..
2) Any activation hurdles are from the carries, not the device vendor.
3) Instead of using special tools or dismantling your phone to swap out physical SIMs, which you also have to Carr, you have a very small chip on the device that could hold several that you can switch between with ease (assuming the carriers don't interfere, which is what they've been doing).
4) Just as you can buy a physical SIM at a "local grocery store" you can do the same fucking thing with an eSIM, just like you'd buy an iTunes GC which has a number tied to an account. You then input that number manually or just like you do with the camera when it reads a bar code (note that Apple Pay can do this sans barcode, including your name and expiration date) which then gets stored in 'a' secure element, or perhaps the Secure Element, depending on how it needs to be accessed on the logic board. This could eventually get very clever in Europe where people more frequently travel between countries and use pre-paid SIMs so that the device can switch SIMs automatically based on tower access and/or GPS.
We should get rid of SIMs, and just be able to join whatever network we want whenever we want. As long as we're prepared to pay for it, why should they stop us?
Yes, eSIM needs to succeed and within the context of that they are right to file a complaint.
However...
- Can I switch to another App Store on iOS?
- Can I circumvent the 30% Apple tax when selling content on Apple’s App Store?
- Can I use Siri to control Google Maps or Spotify?
- Can I use CarPlay to run Google Maps?
- Am I able to backup iCloud to another destination using an open API they provide?
- Can Dropbox and Google Drive hook in the operating system the way iCloud does?
The answer to all questions: NO.
If there’s one company who wants to regain control over their ecosystem it’s Apple. Ten years ago it was unacceptable when Microsoft pushed Internet Explorer, and they were forced to change that. Apple is much worse in that regard and yet the crickets are chirping.
Telco companies colluding is a bad thing for sure, but Apple has a monopoly so they are even worse: they don’t have to collude at all to reach the same goal.
Disclaimer: I’m an Apple user and love their hardware and their OS. So no, I’m not running to Android. Being a fan of a brand doesn’t mean I agree with everything that brand does.
"Apple SIM" was a second attempt to achieve device portability using a proprietary solution. Apple then pushed eSIM on Apple Watch 3, with some support of other vendors. Again it is mostly the big two US carriers who are against device portability, even after moving away from subsidising phones.
You'd be surprised to find out how much tech Apple has developed only to have it blocked by partners/patent trolls/rivals. Apple never talks about the things it worked to do but failed to accomplish, because the only thing that can be accomplished by that is burning bridges. Perhaps eSIM will eventually make its way out, sealing another open hole on iPhones that otherwise needs needs a gasket and which takes up unnecessary space inside the device.
2) It increases customer choice moving that data to a new device would be even easier. Nothing that couldn't be done via NFC or other methods. It's an insanely small amount of data on a comparatively large plastic wafer which you want to keep using that are ridiculous. But, hey, the carriers love your position on this… which should be a huge clue that you're not thinking this through.
The problem was never with Microsoft building their ecosystem. The problem was Microsoft abusing their monopoly in one market (PCs) to attempt to dominate another market (web browsers). Apple does not have a monopoly in any market.
Instead, I see it as primarily an issue of restricting future (often miniaturized) products that need mobile data. The Apple Watch is the first of those But I see more and more of those products in the pipeline over the next 10 years...
I don’t do anything special. I’m not sure why it’s giving you grief.
EDIT: My most recent trip was 3 years ago, perhaps changes in iOS.