Japanese telecoms and internet corporation SoftBank, a subsidiary of SoftBank Group Corp., announced that it is developing an Embedded Subscriber Identity Module ("eSIM") Platform as part of its efforts to promote Internet of Things ("IoT") solutions. The platform, which is scheduled to start operating in 2017, enables remote eSIM provisioning by connecting to carrier communication networks with the required profiles.
When selling vehicles and other items embedded with Machine to Machine ("M2M") equipment to markets abroad, until now it was necessary to prepare dedicated SIM cards with the necessary profiles to connect to the respective communication networks of overseas carriers. With eSIMs integrated into IoT products and M2M equipment, and by using the eSIM Platform, corporate customers will be able to remotely provision eSIMs with the profiles required for connecting to various carrier networks.
For tablets, wearables and other consumer devices equipped with eSIMs, the eSIM Platform will also enable the remote provisioning of pre-registered contract information and other types of information, in addition to the necessary profiles for network connection.