One SIM holds schizophrenic identities

Bluefish Technologies has a new facility that will allow several different network identities to be held on a single SIM card.

Bluefish Technologies has a new facility that will allow several different network identities to be held on a single SIM card.

This development will appeal to network operators wishing to ensure that roaming customers use preferred networks wherever possible.

A pair of numbers that are unique within the entire GSM system identify each SIM.

These numbers, IMSI (international mobile subscriber identity) and Ki (subscriber authentication key) are the basis for user authentication on different mobile networks throughout the world.

The Bluefish Multiple IMSI facility enables a SIM card to hold more than one IMSI, Ki pair.

Bluefish SIMs with the Multiple IMSI facility can be configured automatically so that the appropriate account will come into play as they roam in different areas of network operation.

In addition, these SIMs can also be manually switched by the subscriber between accounts such as personal and work.

To network operators with several networks worldwide there are obvious advantages in controlling the networks that subscribers use as they roam the world.

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