Research In Motion has sent a letter to a standards group complaining about Apple’s tactics in the battle over the upcoming nano-SIM standard, joining Nokia in trying to shed doubt over Apple’s efforts.
RIM, Nokia and Motorola Mobility are involved in an increasingly ugly battle with Apple over whose proposal will be used as the basis for a new, smaller SIM card, dubbed nano-SIM (or 4FF for the fourth form factor, which is the official name).
The two camps each have a proposal that standards organization ETSI will discuss and vote on Thursday and Friday.
The RIM letter, which was submitted Wednesday, states that RIM over last few days has observed a number of people from one company changing their affiliation and registering to the meeting representing a completely different company. But voting by proxy during a technical body meeting is not allowed, according to RIM.
The letter highlights four examples, including three supposed Apple employees who have registered for Bell Mobility, KT Corp. and SK Telekom. Since voting by proxy isn’t allowed, they should not be allowed to take part in the proceedings, according to RIM.
Apple’s proposal is reportedly backed by operators.
Apple and ETSI didn’t reply to questions about the complaints raised in RIM’s letter. ETSI will issue a statement when the votes have been cast, a spokesman said on Wednesday.
The letter comes as Nokia is on the offensive against Apple and its proposal. On Wednesday, Nokia said that it will block the nano-SIM standard if an Apple proposal is selected, because Apple is misusing the standardization process.
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