SIM card manufacturer Gemalto confirmed that wireless carriers can lock LTE SIMs, forcing them to be used with specific plans or preventing them from being used on other Long Term Evolution networks. This report comes from Jean-Louis Carrara, VP of business development at Gemalto, who was speaking with PC Magazine. When speaking about carrier locking, Carrara confirmed that LTE SIMs “certainly can be used to enforce some policies.” When it comes to SIM cards, Gemalto is the world’s largest SIM manufacturer and makes GSM, LTE, and even NFC SIMs for wireless carriers across the globe.
Thus far, Verizon has not confirmed how it will handle LTE SIM cards and unlocked devices. This information will come to light when the wireless carrier finally releases a smartphone on its Long Term Evolution network sometime in the first half of 2011. This issue of locked handsets and usage on alternative networks won’t rear its ugly head until AT&T launches its LTE network in the next year or two. Once competition heats up between Verizon and AT&T, it will be interesting to see if the carriers keep their network open or close it down tighter than a clam. One ray of light come out of this otherwise disappointing report- though Verizon has the option to lock down a SIM, it may choose to leave it partly open so customers can switch between devices on a single network.
[Via PC World]