Canada-based cellular IoT specialist Sierra Wireless, under the stewardship of US LoRaWAN outfit Semtech since last month, has launched a new eSIM / eUICC service offering multi-carrier connectivity in the US, it has said. The new service, called Smart Connectivity Premium, uses the eSIM platform from Ireland-based Kigen, and claims “universal coverage across geographies and technologies” from a single global SIM.
The multi-IMSI and multi-profile eSIM service enables IoT devices to switch between profiles and networks when one becomes unreachable, offering maximum coverage and built-in failover in over 190 countries, said Sierra Wireless. It provides customers with access to the three leading carrier networks in the US. The service is offered as an eSIM in Sierra Wireless’ range of Ready to Connect modules, or as an industrial grade external SIM in various form factors.
Customers get secure access VPN and Private APN options as well as zero touch provisioning on cloud via the firm’s AirVantage management platform. It claims a managed eSIM connectivity service reduces the total cost of ownership (TCO) and accelerates time to market (TTM) for IoT solution sellers. Kigen, responsible for eSIM and iSIM systems and provisioning, is providing the same to various module vendors, device makers, and service providers.
A statement said: “This… marks a step forward in helping companies who want to leverage best possible network coverage and eliminate disruptions to machines and mobile assets connected. The solution will also offer a future proof strategy to companies affected by the 3G network closures and need resilient solutions to future proof to 5G with LTE and LPWAN technologies.”
Ross Gray, vice president of Semtech’s IoT connected services group, said: “ [This] service simplifies how customers connect and manage their deployments. With one global SIM, it accelerates IoT time-to-market, ensures resilient global coverage, maximizes uptime, reduces operational costs, and provides IoT customers with seamless expansion into new markets.”
Jean-Philippe Betoin, senior vice president of ecosystem development at Kigen, said: “This new offering enables customers access to more networks via Kigen eSIM, enabling future-proofed IoT managed connectivity for global applications. With industrial IoT increasingly becoming business-critical, resilient connectivity options are essential.”
In a supplied quote, Scarlett Woodford, principal analyst at Juniper Research, said: “eUICC software allows for increased flexibility in consumer and industrial use cases…. Within the IoT space, a connected device benefits from the same level of coverage whilst roaming as it would when connected to its local network. IoT stakeholders will benefit from the profile swap and localisation abilities afforded by eSIM technology.”
A press statement quotes research by Beecham Research from 2022 that 80 percent of enterprise users and product manufacturers find scaling IoT projects globally to be “quite or very challenging”. The survey also said 78 percent consider reducing IoT TCO and bill of materials (BoM) costs to be “quite or very challenging”. Sixty-nine percent said the same of managing multiple vendors during IoT deployments.
