Guys,
This issue relates to the STK service as part of the SIM Toolkit, I have posted a fix for this here
http://forum.vodafone.co.nz/topic/6080-sim-card-notification-icon-in-android-phone/
look under user scifitrekkie. It is a detailed step by step process to get rid of this notification and cog icon. (This process is for a non rooted android, if you have a rooted android get Titanium Backup Pro and under processes find the SIM Toolkit, select it and take the "FREEZE" option.).
Then this notification will be gone once and for all