There is a vote looming for ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute) related to the nano-SIM cards that will drive the next generation of mobile devices. There is also a heated battle--between Apple on one side, and a coalition of Motorola, RIM, and Nokia on the other side--over what that standard will be. Apple is pushing hard for its technology, and it is reportedly making a peace offering it hopes will sway the opposition and win votes.
A blog post from Florian Mueller, a patent and intellectual property analyst, claims that Apple is prepared to provide royalty-free licenses to all Apple-owned patents essential to it’s nano-SIM proposal. This olive branch is meant to allay concerns over the implications of choosing a “standard” that is based on proprietary patents owned by Apple. The fear is that it could just be a tactic to eventually cash in.
There is a catch, though. According to the letter Mueller references--which is allegedly from a source Mueller believes reliable, but is not at liberty to disclose--the Apple olive branch comes with one condition: Apple’s proposal has to be adopted as the standard, and the other patent holders have to accept the same terms and reciprocate with royalty-free licenses for any proprietary technologies essential to the nano-SIM as well.
A recent post from Engadget, however, suggests that there is more to the nano-SIM war than patent licensing. Nokia claims that the Apple nano-SIM doesn’t even meet the ETSI requirements, and it believes that its nano-SIM is technically superior—it doesn’t require a tray or drawer in the mobile device, and it’s backwards compatible with existing micro-SIM slots. If Nokia and its cohorts truly believe their design is better, Apple’s gambit may not work.
But, Apple reportedly has the support of a majority of European operators, and putting a deal like this on the table may be all Apple needs to win the votes necessary to establish its nano-SIM design as the standard for next-generation mobile devices.