According to a report by Cointelegraph, British telecom provider Vodafone is looking to bring blockchain technology to smartphone users by integrating cryptocurrency wallets with Subscriber Identity Modules (SIM), which are commonly known as SIM cards.
In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance’s Future Focus program, Vodafone’s Blockchain Lead, David Palmer, discussed the company’s plans to integrate blockchain technology into SIM cards for smartphones. He stated, “We are focused on linking the SIM card with digital identities and connecting the SIM card to the blockchain, and then integrating these encryption technologies into the SIM card.”
Palmer predicts that by 2023, there will be 8 billion smartphones, and by 2030, the number of cryptocurrency wallets will skyrocket to 5.6 billion, representing nearly 70% of the global population. He emphasized that this platform can facilitate seamless transactions between public and private blockchains like Ethereum and provide decentralized digital identities for Internet of Things devices.
Earlier this year, Vodafone established a 10-year strategic partnership with Microsoft. Vodafone plans to invest $1.5 billion within the next 10 years in cloud and customer-centric AI services developed by Microsoft, while Microsoft will utilize Vodafone’s fixed and mobile communication services.
Following the announcement of this partnership, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella took the opportunity to promote the disruptive nature of his company’s AI technology, claiming that the next generation of AI will bring tremendous new opportunities to every organization and industry.
（Note: The translated text does not include the images.)