GSMA publishes 'embedded SIM' spec for M2M services

LONDON, UK: The GSMA announced the publication of its specification to enable the remote 'over the air' provisioning and management of Embedded SIMs in machine-to-machine (M2M) devices.

The specification, which has the backing of the world's leading mobile operators and SIM suppliers, will help to ensure interoperable technical solutions and further accelerate the rapidly growing M2M market. First deployments of the GSMA-compliant Embedded SIM solution are expected to roll out in 2014.

"The number of mobile connected devices is expected to reach 11 billion by 2020, growth that will be led predominantly by advances in the M2M market," said Alex Sinclair, CTO, GSMA.

"This level of growth will be heavily dependent on the adoption of a common, global and interoperable SIM provisioning and management architecture that enables the M2M market to flourish. The specification released today will have a significant impact on the M2M marketplace, as it will help provide lower operational costs and drive economies of scale."

The use of traditional SIMs - which require insertion and replacement - in M2M devices for transportation, utility metering or other applications can present challenges, as M2M devices are often remotely located and hermetically sealed.

A specific non-removable SIM is embedded into the M2M device at the point of manufacture and can later be remotely provisioned with the subscription profile of the operator providing the connectivity, which can be subsequently changed or modified over the air. This eliminates the need to intervene to replace SIM cards over the lifetime of each M2M product, reducing ongoing operational and logistical costs.

The Embedded SIM specification allows mobile network operators to provide scalable, reliable and secure connectivity for M2M connected devices. Further, the industry-standard Embedded SIM eliminates the need for each operator to develop their own technical solution for the remote provisioning of their SIMs and also facilitates operator switching if required at the end of a contract.

The Embedded SIM project has the backing of operators and SIM products and solutions partners from across the globe, including AT&T, China Mobile, China Unicom, Deutsche Telekom, Gemalto, Giesecke & Devrient, Morpho (Safran), NTT DOCOMO, Oberthur Technologies, Orange, Telecom Italia, Telefonica, Telenor and Vodafone.