China Telecom To Test Blockchain-Powered 5G SIM Card In Hong Kong 

China Telecom Corporation Limited (CHA), one of the world’s largest telecommunication service providers, has partnered with Layer-1 blockchain Conflux Network (CFX) to develop and launch the first Blockchain SIM cards (BSIM) in the market.

The company sees the move as a way to gain more traction in the industry by bringing together cryptocurrency and 5G communications technology. 

Blockchain-Powered 5G SIM Card Compatible With All Smartphones

China Telecom’s BSIM will be the world’s largest blockchain-powered hardware product, with aims to reach out to the service provider’s 390+ million subscribers in the mainland.

BSIM will be an Ethereum-based entry-level Web3 product that will natively support ERC-20 tokens and will be compatible with all smartphones.

The SIM will utilize Conflux’s dual proof-of-work (PoW) and proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus technology to enable high-quality service.

BSIM will be indistinguishable from traditional SIM cards but will have 10-20 times larger storage space and computing power. 

The 5G-enabled SIM card will also manage and store public and private keys to users’ crypto wallets. With encrypted storage and key retrieval systems, BSIM will be able to process customers’ digital signatures without needing their private phrases.

As a security measure to protect users from being attacked by malicious software or viruses on their mobile phones, BSIM will have a built-in Bluetooth module that will process transactions and the transfer of crypto assets.

To better integrate communication between virtual and real-world information, the SIM will link users’ personal identity information, such as mobile numbers and driving licenses, to a Decentralised Identifier (DID).

The DID technology will help users safely and efficiently connect with smart contract-based decentralized applications (DApps) on the blockchain using just their mobile number. 

When Will Be The Prototype Version Release?

China Telecom and Conflux Network initially agreed to work together in 2022 and will release a prototype version of the BSIM in Hong Kong later this year.

Based on results derived from the pilot program, the product will be tested in other locations in Mainland China such as Shanghai. 

Research and development of the BSIM are now complete, and the card has been deployed on the Conflux mainnet under a test environment.

The product currently supports the storage and transfer of digital assets and 5G communication. The team at Conflux and China Telecom is now working on improving other use cases through applications like games and payment services. 

“The BSIM card significantly improves the user experience and lowers the barriers to entry for Web3 and the Metaverse world for users. It is key to allowing Conflux to take its ecosystem to the next level. Collaborating with such a strong partner like China Telecom and initiating it from Hong Kong will allow us to enter the market in the near future, both in China and Globally,” said Dr. Ming Wu, CTO of Conflux Network. 

At the time of writing, Conflux (CFX) is trading at $0.07 – up by 37.3% in the last 24 hours. The interoperable blockchain network has a total market cap of $156.15 million.