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The delicate balance between Apple and operators:Apple and Google have both sought to reduce their reliance on operator distribution before, notably when the latter launched its first Nexus model, selling it only via a special website on which customers could choose a carrier plan.That effort ran aground on the rocks of carrier hostility, and reminded the big two mobile powerhouses that the cellcos still have considerable power as sales channels. But the operators, especially the US ones, are more willing to sacrifice some of that power to Apple than to Google. AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile (but not Verizon), plus UK market leader EE, have signed up so far to support the multi-operator SIM. Verizon would not comment on why it had so far not decided to participate, but if the Apple SIM option proves popular with US buyers, it may be forced to change its mind, or risk being the only major carrier absent from the drop-down menu of MNO choices.The fear of being left out of an Apple initiative is a powerful way to get operators to swallow bitter medicine, but the iPhone maker is more cautious than it sometimes has been in the past. After all, this scheme only applies to the iPad, not the iPhone (so far), and tablets have always been more about short term data deals than handsets, and are less likely to be subsidized than handsets.Apple’s leadership of the smartphone segment is not as assured as it once was, and it cannot afford to alienate too many operators. Indeed, it will be interesting to see how successful it is in extending the Apple SIM idea outside the US and UK. Past efforts to reduce MNO power have been resisted more strongly in other parts of the world than in the US, from the initial terms and conditions for the original iPhone (rejected by Vodafone, among others), to the first attempt at an Apple-controlled SIM, back in 2010.
That was far more aggressive than the current effort, and far more overtly political in agenda. The vendor worked with Gemalto on a bespoke SIM card, which it planned to incorporate in the iPhone 5, allowing it to activate users on different cellco networks, and effectively turning it into an MVNO which did not have to pay fees for network capacity. Apple has long been rumored to be considering a full MVNO offering, providing connectivity embedded in its devices, either for a fee or as part of the price, Amazon Kindle-style. But with the soft SIM – the 2010 incarnation or the new one – it gains almost all the brand benefits of being an operator, without having to choose a single network partner or commit to a contract.
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