Apple Promises To Make Nano-SIM Licensing Free If Rivals Agree To Its Proposal

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Apple believes that even the micro-SIM is too big for the iPhone.
Apple has agreed to give rival smartphone makers free licensing if its nano-SIM standard is adopted.

It was revealed last week that Apple is pushing to make its new nano-SIM the next industry standard for miniaturized SIM cards. The company has the backing of most European mobile operators, but rival smartphone vendors — particularly Motorola, RIM, and Nokia — are against the idea.

In a bid to win them over, Apple has promised that it will make nano-SIM licensing free if its proposal is approved.

Following criticism from a number of its rivals — especially Nokia which has spoken out against the proposal — Apple has sent a letter to the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) to offer royalty-free licenses for its nano-SIM technology.

According to a “perfectly reliable source” for FOSS Patents, Apple promises that it will “grant royalty-free licenses to any Apple patents essential to nano-SIM, provided that Apple’s proposal is adopted as a standard and that all other patent holders accept the same terms in accordance with the principal of reciprocity.”

This commitment should ease concerns that Apple would use its nano-SIM patents against its rivals to cash in on the new technology. It also proves that Apple simply wished to establish the nano-SIM standard, rather than make money from it.

Whether or not this will win over its rivals, however, remains to be seen. There’s still the issue of having to re-engineer existing hardware to accommodate the nano-SIM, but the benefit of this is smaller, thinner devices in future.

ETSI will make a decision on the nano-SIM later this week.

[via The Next Web]

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