SIM Cards to Get Replaced by Blockchain Technology Soon
The leading telecommunications company Verizon awarded with the patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to implement virtual subscriber identity modules (vSIM), i.e., a system that uses blockchain technology to create virtual SIM cards.
The patent document has the details of how blockchain technology will be used in the encryption and replacing the traditional SIM cards with a software version of the SIM cards. The user’s account is created on the mobile network, and the user can select the required services associated with the account. And according to Verizon, the vSIM can be assigned to multiple devices that are linked to the user account, can be transferred among the devices and can also be assigned temporarily to other users. The virtual SIM card assures more security and also ensures that there would be a single copy of the vSIM can exist on one device at a time. The security is being ensured by providing unique authentication code that prohibits other members to access these codes in case of a mismatch in the code received from the customer’s device and the code that is registered with the vSIM platform.
The document of the filing describes further, “The network device initiates the creation of a blockchain including a vSIM certificate for the network services, wherein the vSIM certificate includes an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI). The vSIM can be retrieved and used by anyone of different devices associated with the user account, transferred between devices associated with the same user account, or temporarily assigned to other users.” And has added, “In one implementation, users can accept new vSIM certificates into a user account, transfer a vSIM among client devices associated with the user account, or deliver a vSIM certificate to another user.”
Verizon was working on this from past many days; the company has been hiring recruits that includes blockchain developers and other blockchain-related services. And the company has funded with an amount of $15 million to the company Filament, the company that works on blockchain hardware for the internet of things.