The GSM Association (GSMA) revealed that multinational technological company giants Apple and Samsung agreed to be part of the latest SIM innovation, called embedded electronic SIM cards or e-SIMs, while the majority of telecommunications companies are expected to support the plans.

According to Financial Times, the two big technological companies are moving forward with the discussions to join other telecommunication companies to support GSMA's objective in creating an industry-wide embedded e-SIM.

Anna Bouverot, the chief executive of GSMA, said that the plan of their office is to have a final "technical architecture" that can be used to develop "an end-to-end remote SIM solution" which will be beneficial to all types of devices. They are expecting to have the e-SIM available in the market in 2016.

The following networks are expected to support the GSMA's plan: Vodafone, Telfónica, Orange, Hutchison Whampoa, Etisalat, Deutsche Telekom, and AT&T. With the help of these telecommunication companies, physical SIMs may vanish soon and users will no longer be limited to a single network. The embedded e-SIM could enable gadgets like tablets and smartphones to instantly switch between several operators.

Although Apple announced their very own SIM card in October 2014 for iPad Air 2, the telecommunications companies who supported their initiative are limited. In the United States, only AT&T and T-Mobile were able to support the SIM, while in the United Kingdom, only EE was able to participate. However, Apple had a good objective at that time and it is in line with GSMA's goal as well. Apple wants the users of iPad to "choose the plan that works best...with no long-term commitments."

Moreover, according to First Post, Apple wants to let the users have the convenience of switching to a local operator whenever they visit other countries. Nevertheless, it is not only Apple who thought about the idea, even BlackBerry announced last May that they are having talks with telecommunications companies in India to have a 9-in-1 virtual SIM in the country, where one SIM card can switch to around nine mobile numbers.

The managing director of BlackBerry India, Sunil Lalvani, told the reporters that they are hoping to release their virtual SIM by the end of the year, according to First Post.

GSMA admitted that their office is facing an enormous challenge as only half of the current world population has mobile phones. Through different innovations, they wanted to work hand in hand with various telecommunication companies and be able to connect the remainder of the world.