Smart cards ringing in the changes

Anybody with half an eye on the telecoms industry will know that the last few years have been somewhat volatile. In the late 1990s, telecoms stock rose, the media was full of ‘good news’ stories about the potential for mobile technology, and large parts of the world experienced a surge in demand for the technology. This was followed by a reality check and finally the bursting of the telecoms bubble in 2001. With the downturn in the market, operators and card manufacturers became cautious investors, and the world experienced an erosion of prices for telecoms products and services.