Much of the original impetus to find an alternative to the traditional removable SIM card came from the IoT/M2M space. While it might be easy...
eSIM
Much of the original impetus to find an alternative to the traditional removable SIM card came from the IoT/M2M space. While it might be easy for a mobile phone user to replace a SIM card in a single handset when they want to change or upgrade their service, this is not the case for, say, a utility company deploying thousands of networked sensors over an entire country. Each individual unit needs a SIM to connect, so the need to install each with a removable card present huge logistical barriers.
The solutions to this dilemma are the embedded SIM, or e-SIM, a chipset hardwired into a device at point of manufacture, and, less well developed, the Soft SIM, which replaces the chipset altogether with a computer programme. In recent times, especially following the launch of the e-SIM fitted Google Pixel and Apple iPhone X smartphones, attention has switched to the advantages the technology might offer to consumer mobile.
The travel and migrant worker markets have long been eyed as a natural fit for e-SIM phones because of the advantages of remote provisioning - instead of buying and installing a new SIM in each country you arrive in, you simply sign up to a new operator over the airwaves, and your e-SIM connects to the new service. This also offers a hassle-free way to get round roaming charges.
“With work on the move becoming the norm for millennials and organisations, and the rise of business travellers and freelance workers, the opportunity to buy data plans online – as opposed to in-store – offers greater flexibility and streamlines the purchasing process.”Once again, China is highlighted as a global leader in consumer e-SIM connections, largely through smartwatch ownership and the fact that many operators allow customers to connect their smartwatches and smartphones via the same contract. The GSMA says that progress towards e-SIM support in smartphones is actually behind several other countries around the world, with the Apple iPhone X e-SIM famously not supported by any domestic carriers. Nonetheless, the industry body expects e-SIM to start to appear in laptops and tablets in the near future, driven by changing working patterns that are taking hold across China.
The GSMA expects e-SIM to start to appear in laptops and tablets in the near future, driven by changing working patterns that are taking hold across China.
Commenting on the benefits of remote provisioning, it said: “With work on the move becoming the norm for millennials and organisations, and the rise of business travellers and freelance workers, the opportunity to buy data plans online – as opposed to in-store – offers greater flexibility and streamlines the purchasing process.”
