Mobile connectivity is a continually shifting landscape, as developments in cellular technologies, new standards and devices to facilitate easy communication all add up to this. The SIM card has been one piece of technology that continues to evolve, as iSIMs and eSIMs reflect technologies enterprises are deploying to improve their communications. At the heart of every SIM is the Integrated Circuit Card Identification (ICCID) number, which plays a big role in managing subscriptions.
What is the ICCID?
The ICCID is a unique 19- or 20-digit number typically engraved on a physical SIM card, acting as an identifier for the card and is used by mobile network operators (MNOs) to manage and track subscriptions. It is important in the face of network authentication, subscription management and mobile number portability.
Because of how the ICCID serves as a unique identifier for each SIM or eSIM embedded in a device, it allows MNOs and service providers to track and manage devices across their networks, which is especially important in the face of a large-scale project like a smart city.
The growth in eSIMs has been a significant development of SIM technology. In an eSIM, the ICCID is stored digitally within the device’s software. Since it’s embedded directly in the device’s hardware and doesn’t involve a physical card, it is part of the electronic profile downloaded and managed on the device.
Because of the development of eSIM technology, the ICCID plays a role in remote SIM provisioning, where IoT devices can switch network profiles over the air (OTA) without the need for physical changes.
The debate between whether SIM technology or eSIM technology will prevail is ongoing, and not necessarily clear cut. Although predictions have placed approximately almost 4 million smartphones as supporting eSIMs by 2028, there remains disagreement about how device users will continue to be identified.
Ongoing debate: SIMs versus eSIMs
Conversations around how SIM technology will play out has been reflected by the content published on IoT Insider. Amir Mehmood, Director of Solution Engineering and Joy King, VP of GTM at Optiva wrote in an exclusive article that “there’s a quiet revolution afoot in mobile connectivity,” referencing eSIM technology.
They wrote their opinion that “eSIMs will render traditional SIM cards obsolete, allowing connectivity to be ‘baked-in’ during the design and manufacture of a device so that connectivity can be activated straight out of the box”. It’s certainly a concern from traditional MNOs, some of whom have eyed the growing adoption of eSIMs, particularly from a travelling roaming standpoint, with alarm.
Kaleido Intelligence hosted a webinar earlier this year that discussed the adoption of travel eSIM from the perspective of whether it should be regarded as a threat or opportunity from MNOs. Although there was conversation about the risk of “cannibalisation” of MNOs’ revenues, the messaging was largely optimistic.
“We’d like to say it’s an opportunity because there are now new options to create income,” said Regina Gonzalez, Roaming Business Manager, Telefónica, one of the participants in the panel. “ We also believe travel eSIM is going to coexist with improved roaming offers.”
“It’s not a cannibalisation, for us it’s enabling us to target the silent roamer market … I’ll say it’s a wake up call,” added Azad Singh, Chief Global Mobility Solutions at Reliance Jio.
In a difference of opinion, Luc Vidal-Majdar, Head of Sim for Things at BICS wrote that, “The SIM card has remained remarkably unchanged and unreplaced in its thirty-year reign. That’s because it continues to deliver in terms of performance and most importantly, its security.” Vidal-Madjar was writing about the SIM card in relation to security which he said was becoming all the more pressing.
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