TECH

Three years after the first "hints", eSim is making big strides with the help of Apple and the new iPhone.

In 2015 it was announced that physical SIM cards had their days counted, as Apple and Samsung would be in talks with the operators to create a digital SIM card that would be integrated into the mobile phone itself. A few months later, in 2016, the launch of the first gadget to take advantage of technology was confirmed: a new version of the Samsung Gear S2 smartwatch.Time passed and the system, which proposes to replace physical cards with software, never generated a great "buzz". Until the latest Apple event, with the announcement of dual-SIM integration with the new iPhone Xs. The "double supply" of the apple brand relies on the use of traditional nano-SIM and eSIM and should be available before the end of the year.The eSIM standard has been supported by the GSMA, which began by developing the specifications for use by M2M devices, which include devices that make up a large part of the IoT networks. "It is also in these devices that the use of eSIM is more interesting because the space spared by the non existence of the physical SIM reduces the size of the devices - and eventually their consumption," said António Rodrigues, a professor at Instituto Superior Técnico and a researcher at the Institute of Telecommunications, to SAPO. In a smartphone space saving is less important in volume, he noted, "but it could mean that smartphones could be slightly thinner."Even for smartphones, in countries or areas where network coverage by operators is not complete or of non-uniform quality, it will allow a user to switch networks without physically exchanging phone (or card) over a period of time much lower.There are also emerging areas that will benefit from such systems as the automotive industry, including, but not limited to, stand-alone vehicles, and various consumer electronics products in terms of connections, from smartwatches to handheld computers.
"There are countless advantages that this system can offer," says António Rodrigues. "For the user avoids working with physical SIM, avoiding its loss, its handling between different terminals, the use of a dual SIM", dividing the professional life of the staff or access to multiple operators. "It also makes it easy to move from your account in Portugal, for example to an account in India", paying local prices instead of roaming costs.
For the operators, the researcher at the Telecommunications Institute points out the obvious advantage of savings in the distribution circuit and the sale of SIM cards, "in their use in emerging markets such as the automotive industry and IoT." There will always be challenges in the search for new solutions in terms of marketing and management of customer subscriptions and new access distribution models.
No operator offers eSIM in Portugal at the moment, but the case may change with the arrival of the iPhone Xs, which began to be sold around the world this Friday. NOS and Vodafone indicated to TEK that they are evaluating with Apple the possibility of making the system available in the Portuguese market, considering that it is still premature, at this moment, to proceed with more details.Altice does not rule out such an offer and highlights the potential of the system for operators and users. "The implementation of the eSIM initiatives will bring with it a number of advantages associated with this technology," said the company's source. "By translating itself into a new way of distributing access credentials to a mobile network, while maintaining the security standards of the SIM card, eSIM will enable the experience to evolve from the point of view of the end user, at the same time as enables the optimization of the current commercial distribution model ".The same source also pointed out the relevant role that technology could assume in a market in which the volume of connected equipment, both machine to machine and consumption, is increasing.However, he stressed that the availability of this technology will be progressive and will coexist with the current distribution processes, "obliging the various entities involved in this ecosystem, included operators, to combine two realities, which will limit the effect of said advantages."



Sapo