MWC: Gemalto Puts Facebook On SIM Card

At the Mobile World Congress on Monday Gemalto announced a SIM card-based application that allows any GSM-based mobile phone to interact with Facebook using SMS messages, without the need for a data connection.

The application potentially extends Facebook’s reach far beyond the more than 200 million users who already access the social network via relatively advanced handsets, according to Gemalto.

Basic technologies

It was built for wide compatibility on simple GSM handsets, according to Gemalto, using two basic technologies. It uses Class 2 SMS messages, a type of message which is stored and used on the SIM card, not the phone, and it also uses the GSM SIM Toolkit, which is part of the GSM standard and available on all GSM handsets..

The service works for prepaid as well as monthly subscription customers, Gemalto said. Users will however need to pay for a separate subscription to the application, buying a pass for unlimited usage of the service for a given period of time, according to the company.

Users can access Facebook features such as friend requests, status updates, wall posts or messages via text-based menus, with updates passed back and forth between the handset and the web via SMS. Users can sign up for the service and log in directly from the SIM application. Users can also search for friends and send them requests via the SIM phonebook.

Gemalto suggested the application could be distributed by network operators by embedding it directly on the SIM, meaning there would be no need for a download.

“Facebook for SIM enables operators to leverage two of their main assets: the SMS to communicate with the web application and the SIM for application distribution to the masses,” said Gemalto executive vice president Philippe Vallée, in a statement.

Gemalto is better known as a mobile security specialist. It is involved in Everything Everywhere’s plans, announced last month, to roll out a mobile payments service using contactless mobile payment technology based on the phone’s SIM card. The system is protected by Gemalto’s Trusted Service Management operated services.

iPhone SIM

Last October Apple was reported to be working with Gemalto on a special SIM for the iPhone that would allow users to buy iPhones directly from Apple and choose their carrier at the point of purchase. The rumoured SIM would allow Apple to handle the activation of the smartphone, normally the role of the carrier.

A report in November had it that Apple cancelled the plans due to hostility from operators.