Mobile phone SIM cards

[qapmoc]

Is there a difference in the specs for older and newer SIM cards? I have a motorola C117 about two years old, works perfect on its original SIM but if I put a new one in it is will work OK for a while then say "SIM card absent" switch off & back on and its ok until it happens again, can happen anything from two minutes to one day after switching on and its still perfect on the old SIM card.
Regards