French IoT coutfit Actility, with interests in low-power wide-area (LPWA) cellular and also non-cellular based (LoRaWAN) networking technologies, is to offer programmable LTE-M solutions with embedded and integrated SIM (eSIM and iSIM) technologies for the first time. It is using a hardware and connectivity solution from IoT chip-maker Sequans and IoT connectivity provider iBASIS, it has announced.
A statement said the pair, which have been working together on various IoT projects for three years, have been selected by Actility to meet its “delivery schedule” for eSIM and iSIM solutions. They said they are “frontrunners” in development of commercial eSIM and iSIM products. Actility has an ongoing relationship with iBASIS for roaming between private cellular networks and public cellular networks.
Its subsidiary business, Abeeway, which produces low-power NB-IoT and LTE-M tracking solutions, will use Sequans’ latest dual-mode LTE-M/NB-IoT platform, Monarch 2, with an embedded connectivity profile from iBASIS to connect to LTE networks worldwide. The Monarch 2 is the first iSIM implementation to achieve the EAL5+ security certification, said Sequans, allowing it to remotely select and update tier-one operator profiles via the iBASIS system.
The big promise of eSIM/iSIM technology is to enable enterprises to easily adopt a single remotely-programmable SIM to provide cellular data connectivity in all/most countries, reducing hardware footprints, costs, and energy usage for IoT makers. A press statement quoted Counterpoint Research, that iSIM will be the dominant SIM form factor from 2027, with iSIM-capable devices to number seven billion units between 2021 and 2030.
Olivier Hersent, chief executive at Actility, explained: “Our focus is ultra-low-power industrial IoT connectivity. New cellular trackers [from] Abeeway leverage LTE-M and NB-IoT, and our ThingPark EPC Connector for unlicensed private cellular networks relies on recent 3GPP slicing technologies. We needed cutting edge partners to support reliable LTE-M connections with PSM/eDRX options in permanent roaming as well as iSIMs.
“After extensive testing, we selected Sequans for its ability to support iSIMs and because 100 percent of its software stack is developed in-house. We selected iBASIS for its ability to support complex integration and its focus on quality, based on proactive testing. Together, we form the dream team for industrial low-power IoT.”
Louis Chuang, an executive vice president at Sequans, added: “Adding iBASIS connectivity on our Monarch 2 module with eSIM, and having fully tested the global connectivity on iSIM, we are now advancing into an integrated production phase driven by a customer need. We are thrilled to reach this milestone with iBASIS whereby we can offer customers a powerful iSIM capability, along with low power consumption, cost-efficiency, and GNSS support.”
Ajay Joseph, chief technology officer at iBASIS, said: “We are delighted to implement iSIM technology together with… Sequans… This once again underlines that iBASIS is a frontrunner… We strongly believe that iSIM will become a dominant factor within the IoT industry and I am proud to see that we are now able to provide our longstanding customer Actility with our proven IoT connectivity on iSIM.”
