The World of Constant Connection continues discussing latest technological innovations which are expected to be numerous in the 21st century. Mobile communication is special in this respect as an young, modern and dynamic field of industry.

For a lot of people, mobile communications have become more than just a means to exchange calls by mobile handset. Today, in many countries, subscribers use mobiles to access the Internet, exchange  e-mails and, even more, to buy necessary things, take active part in banking operations and to conclude business deals… A business deal is a case where a Smartcard (plastic card with special security feature) is required.

In order to render this service, the operators use SIM-cards and related supporting technologies. Experts believe that the successful development of the mobile communications services will, in many respects, depend on the ability of SIM-cards and related supporting technologies to evolve, to become smarter.

It should be noted that the use of Smartcards has substantially increased during the last year, which certainly was to the credit of mobile communications. In order to meet the growing demands of users, many operators try to strongly emphasize these types of services as high-speed data transfer, multimedia, e-commerce, mobile banking and other so-called 3G services. It has already become evident that the SIMs available in the current industry cannot allow the use of such services, because the security level required for accessing the Internet by mobile and carrying out financial operations has not yet been achieved. The 3G technologies, concentrated mainly on high-speed data transfers, require complex authentication and a higher degree of security.

That was why the GSM World Congress held in Cannes in February, 2000 formed the alliance of SIM-card manufacturing companies, SIM Alliance. The Alliance gathers such well-known producers of SIMs and Smartcards as Gemplus, Schlumberger, Orga, Geisecke & Dervient and Oberthur. The main purpose of the Alliance, in addition to improving the security level of internet access, is to bring WAP style services to existing non-WAP phones using specially designed  SIM cards. The first joint project of the Alliance, issued in July, 2000, stipulates working out S@T (SIM Alliance Toolbox) specifications for SIMs, which will make them compatible with WAP, and later with GPRS technologies.

SAT specification allows the operators to offer mobile Internet service worldwide to any subscriber with a GSM phase 2+ standard mobile. These include all of the mobiles produced since 1998. According to the calculations of SIM Alliance, such phones are used by 24 million subscribers in Britain alone and more than by 70 million worldwide. Proper operation of this system depends mainly on the graphic display of mobile and SIM Toolkit specifications, a special mode of SIM, enabling to receive additional services from the networks of operator companies. The WAP browser will be installed in the SIM memory, instead of the handset, and allow it to receive any of the WAP-services, or view WAP-pages in the Internet, exchange e-mail, check bank accounts, etc. Today, the average SIM memory is 16 Kb, and rarely – 32 Kb, however to install a WAP-browser in a SIM, a much bigger memory is needed. The SIMs produced using new technology allow an increase in the memory of up to 2 Mb, which is sufficient to install not only WAP-browser, but also some other software.

Users must be secure in the safety and accuracy of banking and business operations made from their mobiles. Without such confidence, any successful development of the new services will face serious risks. One more joint project of the Alliance, PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) seeks to store a special security feature on a Smartcard, which will be installed in the mobile handset, together with a SIM. Such phones do not differ in their design from ordinary GSM ones. The only difference is their built-in Smartcard reader, and they are known as Multi-Slot handsets.

PKI is a database of encoded information in the Internet. Part of this information, as was mentioned, is installed in the memory of the plastic card, which is then placed in the mobile phone. The other, an identical part of the information, is constantly stored in the corresponding data base of the Internet. When an user performs any banking operation or buys something, he dials his personal code on his mobile. Encoded information is then sent to the Internet to be authenticated (or checked), whether it coincides with the part of the information kept in the corresponding data base of the Internet. The procedure ensures that both parts of the encoded information must coincide, otherwise no transaction will be validated. As Mike Walker, a leading economic researcher of the British company, Vodafone, explains, "the PKI was not necessary as a way of authenticating subscribers to their respective fixed networks. However mobile e-commerce needs a much greater level of authentication between a much wider circle of service suppliers and their users. Mobile e-commerce, mobile banking, and, in particular, 3G services, are unimaginable without PKI. There is just no other way of doing it".

In recent years the operators, together with banks and credit card manufacturer companies, have been working closely to test and develop various payment schemes via mobile handsets, and they soon made good progress. First of these companies was France Telecom, which in July, 2000, made a trial launch of its AtiAchat service. The trial involved some 7 commercial banks, 22 vending and service centers and 100 pilot subscribers. AtiAchat enables the subscribers of France Telecom to make purchases from their own mobiles or directly from the Internet. The project used Motorola StarTAC-D with a built-in credit-card reader.

Although Motorola is currently the only supplier with an established Multi-Slot handsets on the market, recently Visa, the giant producer of credit cards, announced its plans to develop a joint product together with Nokia and the Finish-Sweden group MeritaNordbanken. The trial project uses a Nokia 7110 with a built-in card reader. The authors of the idea intend to allow the owners of a Visa card to enjoy complete security when purchasing products in trade centers as well as in the Internet.

One more big achievement in the Smartcard industry since last year was the possibility of roaming between GSM and CDMA networks with special SIMs. This is a major event in mobile communications, because until now roaming was impossible between different standards. Inter-Standard Roaming is the name for the standard that allows roaming between CDMA and GSM networks. The French company, Schlumberger, with its Simera Airflex, became the first manufacturer which managed to comply the standards of two different networks in one SIM. The distinctive feature of the product is that the CDMA subscriber, when roaming in GSM networks, simply places his Inter-Standard Roaming card in a GSM terminal. The significance of the achievement will become more evident given that over 30 million CDMA subscribers in Japan and the Far East will have the potential to use roaming.

This undertaking served as a stimulus for other big manufacturers of SIM and plastic cards. The French company, Gemplus, did not find the achievement enough, and in October 2000, made a trial launch of GemXplore World, its own Internet-Standard SIM. The special feature of this card is that it allows the CDMA handsets to operate automatically in GSM networks. The trial was conducted in association with China Unicom (the second biggest Chinese operator), the CDG (CDMA Development Group) and Zhong Xing Telecommunications Equipment Co (the leading company in the production of Chinese mobile phones).
 

GIORGI  AVALIANI
Head of Sales and
Distribution Department
MagtiCom