It's been an ongoing research to get a new standard going:
>"The GSM Association, an organization of wireless telephone operators including AT&T Inc., plans to replace the removable SIM card connecting handsets to networks with a system integrated in the devices."
Apple then made a first move adding a "programmable SIM card" -- which is a first step towards software-only SIM:
>"Some of Apple’s latest iPads have a new type of SIM card that lets users switch easily between operators without replacing the card. This could seriously weaken the operators’ grip on their market, especially if Apple were to follow up by putting the new SIMs in iPhones or replacing them with software"
>"As others have pointed out, as of right now the Apple SIM isn’t a huge threat to the existing smartphone sales model – contract subsidies are too attractive to customers. But ultimately, Apple is almost certainly hoping to replace the physical Apple SIM with a software solution built directly into devices; in fact, it was working on such a plan back in 2010, before that was axed by opposition from a coalition of European carriers in particular."
>"The GSM Association, an organization of wireless telephone operators including AT&T Inc., plans to replace the removable SIM card connecting handsets to networks with a system integrated in the devices."
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-11-18/gsma-explo...
Apple then made a first move adding a "programmable SIM card" -- which is a first step towards software-only SIM:
>"Some of Apple’s latest iPads have a new type of SIM card that lets users switch easily between operators without replacing the card. This could seriously weaken the operators’ grip on their market, especially if Apple were to follow up by putting the new SIMs in iPhones or replacing them with software"
http://www.economist.com/news/business/21633870-moves-reinve...
>"As others have pointed out, as of right now the Apple SIM isn’t a huge threat to the existing smartphone sales model – contract subsidies are too attractive to customers. But ultimately, Apple is almost certainly hoping to replace the physical Apple SIM with a software solution built directly into devices; in fact, it was working on such a plan back in 2010, before that was axed by opposition from a coalition of European carriers in particular."
http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/16/apple-sim-details-and-poten...