[Project Idea Portfolio]

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Excerpt of a news story from 2022

Heading: SIM Technology Tug-of-War

Subheading: eSIM/iSIM - a game-changer for digital mobility

Image: SIM Evolution graphic by Daragh Moller (Appendix C)

Caption:  Artist Render of SIM Evolution 1996 - 2022

Pullquote: “This year will see the explosion of eSIM offerings to consumers.”

References: 10

Hyperlinks: 8

Primary Source Interviews: Appendix B

The era of the single SIM and locked phone is set to be replaced by advances in technology as regulators delay EU telcom mandates and mobile network operators stall new product availability.

Inlaid on a miniature board and long indispensable to mobile communication, the standard SIM is at the centre of a power play between mobile network operators (MNO) and Irish regulators.

Advancements in SIM technology that allow phone users to switch between different operators will upset MNOs tight control of market share; operator prices will fall as switching becomes competitive.  While innovators wait to bring new SIM products to market, and regulators are forced to update EU standards, MNOs stall availability. In Ireland the eSIM is still unavailable to pre-paid phone users.

To date, the “Subscriber Identity Module” has provided a mechanism to securely identity mobile users to mobile networks.  As governments increasingly insist on 100% digital mobility, mobile security game-changers are now required for new “zero trust” digital identities.  Advances in SIM technology are recognized as the solution. Both embedded (eSIM) and integrated (iSIM) types are more secure and programmable with real-time management faster than the standard SIM.

Mike Van Bullens, MD of technology providers Comms365 explained how the new technology differs from the old: “An eSIM is a chip-based SIM that is directly soldered into a device at point of manufacture, embedded with software, which is used to securely package profiles.”

It has been over a year since Comreg, the Irish Telecoms regulator, published the first of two strategies (to promote Over-the-Air (OTA) provisions for MNO implementation, the second in June 2022. OTA is the remote “over-the-air” downloading of a mobile profile to a smartphone or device on to eSIM, removing the need for a standard SIM.   In the 2021 study, the regulator emphasized the need for OTA:  “The new European Directive for regulation of the sector – the EECC– requires each Member State to promote OTA provisioning.”

Comreg’s second commissioned  report on OTA provisions in 2022 revealed apathy from MNOs: “Key barriers include lack of awareness, slow uptake and support for eSIM as well as a lack of user-friendly OTA options for provisioning and switching and potential lock-in in certain situations for both consumers and industrial customers.”