Why can't I have a duplicate sim card

[Alan5353]

I have an old phone that I use when it's too risky to have my main phone with me.

To do this I have to swap over my sim each time.

Why can't I have a second sim with the same number ?

I only want to have one phone active at any one time so what is the problem with EE offering this service ? 

[XRaySpeX]

@mikeliuk : No offence is committed when it is the network that supplies its own duplicate "unique device identifier" SIMs to a user:

3. But a person does not commit an offence under this section if—

(a)he is the manufacturer of the device,

[Alan5353]

XrayspeX,

So it can be done and is legal ?

A friend of mine had his phone stolen just before the lockdown and had no end of problems. He had banking apps among other sensitive accounts on the device and was really worried afterwards.

This is the main reason (apart from dropping it in a lake) that I prefer to have an old mobile with very limited data on it (a few contacts) on some occasions .

I can forward calls from my main device but I believe that you can't do the opposite so any person I call would need the number in their contacts to know it's me.

Is there anyway around this ?

I really like the convenience of a smartphone but the thought of all that data being lost or stolen isn't funny.

Maybe I should have stuck with my £20 phone with just calls and texts 🙂 

[XRaySpeX]

That's my reading of the legislation but I imagine lawyers can have fun with & make money from it.

[Alan5353]

Your probably right.

Even if the second sim only allowed you to make calls I'm sure there would still be a big demand for it. I can't be the only person who thinks it would be a good idea.

I'll be going to the first provider that comes up with something.

Oh well 😞

again, thanks for the help

[XRaySpeX]

Thanks! You're welcome 🙂 ! Glad I could be of assistance

[mikeliuk]

I was also thinking what might be the get-out clause but I favoured this one:

(b)he does the act mentioned in subsection (1) with the written consent of the manufacturer of the device.

My thinking is that EE is unlikely to manufacture its own SIMs as it seems like the kind of thing that would be outsourced.

Along my line of thought, we would then just need to know whether EE has factories manufacturing SIMs or whether EE has written permission from the company it has out sourced (if this is the case).

Edit: below are apparently the top SIM manufacturers. Either EE is not a top SIM manufacturer, or it perhaps it does not manufacture any at all, or it out sources some or all of its manufacturing.

https://www.thomasnet.com/articles/top-suppliers/sim-cards-manufacturers-and-suppliers/

[XRaySpeX]

Fair comment, @mikeliuk , but what constitutes a manufacturer? Does Apple manufacture iPhones or is it a Chinese factory? In today's modern global economy who knows who makes what?

[mikeliuk]

It does seem that a person who has radio equipment designed and manufactured, and sticks a brand on it is also himself a manufacturer:

“manufacturer” means a person who—
(a)manufactures radio equipment or has radio equipment designed or manufactured; and
(b)markets that radio equipment under that person's name or trade mark;

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/1206/regulation/2

Apparently the European Commission has a similar definition. This may be of less direct relevance now but does point to a fairly consistent definition in existence.

'The European Commission defines a manufacturer as “any natural or legal person who manufactures a product or has a product designed or manufactured, and markets the product under its name or trademark.” '

https://certification-experts.com/responsibilities/

[Alan5353]

I personally think EE could offer some sort of product that would let people have two phones using the same number.

Even if it had limited use like just calls and data.

I just tried swapping my sim into an old iPhone SE which seemed to work fine but now I’ve swapped it back my account is saying I’m still on the SE.

it’s a joke that the so called best provider in the uk can’t do something so simple and useful.

Quite disappointed really.

[mikeliuk]

A quick mention that about six years ago I had the same concern as the OP that I didn't want to spend GBP 800 on a phone that could be easily dropped and destroyed.

Other people had numerous approaches to this such as buying insurance or a good case.

My solution was to buy a waterproof phone that can be dropped about 1.8 m onto concrete, such as the Cat S61 or Cat S62 Pro. This way, I do not need to swap my SIM between a good phone and a bad phone, and instead I have a good phone for all circumstances. This strategy may not be open to the Apple ecosystem so potentially Apple should introduce a way to enable two phones to share a single number.