Alan Gross and the mysterious SIM card

Cuba Money Project

It’s unclear how Gross acquired the “discreet” SIM card. Anonymous sources told Butler that “the chips are provided most frequently to the Defense Department and the CIA, but also can be obtained by the State Department, which oversees USAID.”
USAID spokesman Drew Bailey told Butler that the agency did not help Gross obtain equipment.

Ernesto Hernández Busto, editor of the influential blog Penúltimos Días, consulted an expert – also anonymous – who doubts the AP’s claim about a special SIM card. He quotes the source as saying:

Short answer — don’t think the article is correct. There’s a lot of factual errors in the article. Seems the reporter didn’t check with a technical expert on how cell phones work… The way the technology works – what is transmitted to the cell phone network is 2 pieces of information, the SIM card ID # and the ID # of the phone. Even if the sim card were changed in some way, the cell phone # would still be transmitted.
To be able to not be detected — one would need a completely different phone and very different type of SIM CARD. Don’t see how a US AID contractor would be able to get his hands on such a unit. They likely aren’t available in the open market at all.
It’s likely not just a chip, but also a very different cell phone that uses a military satelite network. A US AID contractor wouldn’t have access to such technology. Let alone, he wouldn’t have the security clearance to use such a device.
Seems too far fetched for me…
US Govt officials usually when they travel use normal phones with normal sim cards (issued in the US). However the phones have special encryption that allows the voice and data to be protected.
It’s all about the phone and what network it is using. I see it far fetched for Gross to be able to get the security clearance required to get a device able to connect to the separate military/intelligence satellite network.

Hernández said he contacted Butler, who told him he stands by his story. More >>