Nano SIMs – Competitive Pricing
If you are interested in competitive pricing information on Australian Nano SIMs from the major operators you can go through to the Whatphone SIM Only page.
Below on this page :
- Specific plan details for Nano SIMs
- Explanation of Nano SIMs – what they are, why they are needed etc
- Nano SIM Risks
Nano SIMs – What are they ?
Nano SIM cards are just the new, physically smaller versions of the SIM cards you’ve probably been using for years.
SIM stands for Subscriber Identification Module cards. If you’re with Telstra, Optus, Virgin Mobile or Vodafone Australia, SIM cards are the fingerprint they use to associate your mobile phone usage and the resultant billing with you.
Nano SIMs – Where did they come from ?
The size and capabilities of SIM cards are set by the Smart Card Platform Technical Committee of the European Telco Standards Institute ( ETSI. )
The nano Sim card is around 40% smaller than existing SIM cards, although they still look very much the same rectangular shape that they always have. The new dimensions of the SIM will be 9mm x 12 mm x 7mm. Nano SIMs will also be a small amount ( 15% ) thinner.
Nano SIMs – history
Originally, SIM cards, shipped in the original huge mobile phones that Gordon Gecko used, were the size of a credit card.
Later, they ‘shrunk’ to the standard SIM size which was in market for a long time. With the launch of the iPad, Apple released a micro SIM ( also known as a 3FF SIM or ‘Third Form Factor’ SIM. )
Micro SIMs were essentially just a standard SIM with some of the plastic cut off. You could use cutters, bought from eBay and shipped internationally, to lop some of the plastic off a standard SIM to adapt it in to a micros SIM.
Cutting a Nano SIM May Invalidate Your iPhone 5 Warranty
Because Nano SIMs are also thinner than micro SIMs, it may not be possible this time to use cutters to reduce their volume to fit in to your smartphone.
Some manufacturer warranties are invalidated if you try. Be warned! Some telcos have been advising customers to cut their SIMs and squeeze them in to their iPhone 5s. In the opinion of Whatphone, your iPhone 5 hardware is too important to risk !
Nano SIM – Created by Apple
RIM, Nokia, Motorola and Apple all made recommendations to the ETSI on how the new nano SIMs might look. After deliberations, the ETSI chose Apple’s suggestion. The other manufacturers were not happy and banded together to increase their influence over the governing body. As a result, the ETSI has adapted the designs with Apple to reflect some of the suggestions from RIM and the other stakeholders.
For example RIM wanted a ‘notch’ in the side which would allow customers to ‘click’ their nano SIMs in to place and ‘click’ them out. This is similar to the ‘hot swappable’ memory adapters that RIM used to include in its BlackBerry range.
Nano SIMs – Why are they needed
The advantages to the manufacturers of smaller and smaller SIM chips are obvious. They can use the extra space they create in the device for better batteries or other components.
Nano SIMs – Watch out for the trap
Having worked in the telcos which will be providing the iPhone 5 to customers, it’s far to say that nano SIMs represent a number of short term risks to customers. Most of those risks relate to the logistics of getting a nano SIM to a customer so they can insert it in to their mobile phone.
The main risks to our lovely Whatphone visitors are :
- Insufficient nano SIMs being available following the launch of the iPhone 5. With previous Apple releases, some telcos around the world ran low on the micro SIM stock they needed meaning they couldn’t connect people to the network, frustrating their customers. The volume of upgrades and new sales that telecommunications companies do at the time of a new release for devices like the Apple iPhone 5 is huge. It’s like an early Christmas. Predicting, sourcing and storing enough nano SIMs remains a challenge, even now in 2013. Some brands still do not have sufficient Nano SIM stock.
- Reduces ability to swap SIMs between different devices. Using your SIM card in another phone is a perfectly reasonable thing for a customer to want to do. There are no rules against it. However, obviously, people will only be able to swap their nano SIM in to another iPhone ( which, if it was sold on another network, might need to be unlocked. )
- You might be given the wrong SIM when you buy. This happens far to much. Problems in the telco warehouses, a lack of product knowledge within channel sales representatives and simple human error mean that for many customers, devices are shipped with the wrong SIM. At a time when all that most customers want to do it get going on their new mobile phone, there are few things more frustrating than not being able to connect it to their network.
Until nano SIMs become standard across new Smartphone releases ( and they probably will as the manufacturers compete with each other trying to eek as much battery and processing power out of their mobile phone chassis as possible ) nano SIMs represent a risk to the experience you will have buying and connecting your new Smartphone. Starting with the nano.
Whatphone suggests that you buy online to get the best price plan deals as always. But check out for yourself what SIM card your new mobile phone takes. Nano SIM ? Micro SIM ? ‘Normal’ SIM ? Have an Instant Message chat with an agent to make absolutely sure that the unit you buy will come with a nano SIM if you need one.
If you’d like to review more Whatphone resources about Nano SIMs, why not check out the Whatphone Nano SIM Information Page.