eUICC sim card – the little innovation bringing big change to the M2M market
How can they maintain competitive and continued growth? By building a robust connected device and operational strategy. Many enterprises are also turning to a digital connected services and annuity or XaaS type of business models for additional and recurring revenue streams.
With the diverse types of devices, networks, applications and infrastructure now available, it's getting more difficult to build a global IoT strategy. Only a select few enterprises have the scale, resources and expertise to build out their own global IoT connectivity strategy. And those who do not can lean on the services provided by established telecom players, providing them with a best-in-class path forward.
Technologies like embedded universal integrated circuit cards (eUICC) is one of the ways to deploy it.
Building on 3GPP standards
3GPP standards include security, billing and network access as core principles, but building a system robust enough to support IoT operations and perform consistently around the world requires collaboration and interoperability.
At Arkessa, for example, we have continued to enhance our managed service portfolio to drive the next wave of Enterprise IoT, and leveraged our existing partnerships, as well as Ericsson's, within the community of mobile network operators (MNOs). This is a key element in creating a consistent, global IoT network.
Want a taste of how IoT connectivity is shaping our world? Read about the world's first cellular IoT-based Smart Factory and other IoT early adopters.
eUICC can give enterprises flexibility
For applications that need it, or for regulatory reasons, the new evolving eUICC technology takes away one of the key pain points of IoT, changing out the physical SIM card.
Unlike traditional SIM cards, eUICC is programmable and enables consumers to switch their service provider without the need to change the physical card.
An eUICC-enabled machine can automatically connect to any local cellular network and provision itself under the control of business logic sitting in the mobile core network. This technology is offered through an agreement between the initial operator and the destination operator.
There are two key benefits to this.
Firstly, for enterprises which manufacture products with an unknown destination, the right SIM profile can be configured by the specific operator when the product ultimately reaches its destination. Secondly, they can take advantage of the technical, commercial and regulatory benefits which localized network connectivity helps to deliver.
eUICC and connectivity management – better together
Through an established telecom provider, enterprises can scale up their business with ease.
Ericsson's IoT ecosystem of operators, for example, allows enterprises to start locally and grow their business globally in an incremental fashion by tapping into existing operator networks. The enterprise only needs to interface with one selected operator – the lead operator. Lead operators like Arkessa utilize the present ecosystem or join forces with new operators, as required. At Arkessa, we fulfill the critical role of managing and orchestrating the connectivity relationships with other operators within the ecosystem.
Through eUICC and connectivity management which is easy to adopt, such as Ericsson's and Arkessa's, enterprises and OEMs can experience the consistent, global IoT network required to leverage connected devices to power additional services.
Benefits of combining Arkessa and Ericsson Connectivity Management
OEMs and enterprises can rely on Arkessa's Connectivity as a Service, which makes the most of the powerful combination of eUICC and Ericsson Connectivity Management, to provide consistent IoT connectivity anywhere in the world. By letting Arkessa and Ericsson take care of their connected device strategy, enterprises and OEMs can play to their own strengths, and invest their expertise in the creation of new services that provide more value to customers as well as generate additional revenue streams. Together, Arkessa and Ericsson are creating a global IoT network to transform that vision into reality.
Arkessa is a global IoT managed services provider that delivers connectivity services and solutions which make IoT easier to adopt, integrate and scale. Our virtualized multi-network capability provides global coverage combined with management, security and billing services for Enterprise IoT.
Ericsson Connectivity Management, provided by Ericsson IoT Accelerator, is a cloud service that enables operators to offer connectivity management to their enterprise customers. It supports operators in building up IoT solutions from device connection to the deployment of enterprise services.