Vodafone, a telecommunications provider based in the United Kingdom, has set its sights on bringing blockchain technology to smartphone users through the integration of cryptocurrency wallets with subscriber identity module (SIM) cards.
This ambitious move comes as part of Vodafone’s financial plan, which reportedly includes Vodafone Idea, a separate entity operating in India in which Vodafone Group holds a 45% stake, taking on nearly $3 billion in debt. This includes $1.8 billion in loans over the next two years.
In a recent interview with Yahoo Finance Future Focus, David Palmer, Vodafone’s Blockchain Lead, discussed the company’s plans to integrate blockchain technology into smartphone SIM cards. Palmer provided further details, stating that he expects there to be approximately eight billion smartphones in use by 2030. He also predicts a surge in crypto wallets to reach 5.6 billion within the same time frame, which would account for nearly 70 percent of the global population.
Despite the ongoing financial challenges faced by Vodafone Idea in India, which recently sold off $2.2 billion worth of shares ahead of a reported $3 billion debt-raising plan, Vodafone Group has had a busy year. As reported by Cointelegraph, the company entered into a 10-year strategic partnership with Microsoft to bring generative artificial intelligence (AI) services to its customers. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella emphasized the disruptive nature of his company’s AI technologies, stating that the “new generation of AI will unlock massive new opportunities for every organization and every industry around the world.”
It’s worth noting that this is not the first attempt to combine cell phone technology with blockchain hardware. In 2019, U.S. startup VaultTel announced its ambitions to create a physical wallet that could be inserted into a smartphone’s SIM slot.
Related: Vodafone has recently auctioned the world’s first SMS, “Merry Christmas,” as an NFT for charity.