The European Telecoms Standards Institute (ETSI) yesterday announced a new form factor (4FF) for the venerable SIM card. The new standard is 40% smaller than the micro-SIM format, the smallest design in use today.
Today’s SIM card designs take up a significant amount of space inside a mobile device. This space is more and more valuable in today’s handsets which deliver an ever increasing number of features.
The fourth form factor (4FF) card will be 40% smaller than the current smallest SIM card design, at 12.3mm wide by 8.8mm high, and 0.67mm thick. It can be packaged and distributed in a way that is backwards compatible with existing SIM card designs. The new design will offer the same functionality as all current SIM cards.
The smaller SIM card will allow manufacturers to either produce smaller devices or use the freed up space for new features in similarly sized ones. It will also be packaged in such a way that it will be backwards compatible with existing SIM card designs.
ETSI will publish the nano-SIM card design standard on its website “in due course.”
Read more: ETSI