Vodafone Business IoT, Kigen announce full commercial availability of iSIM

Kigen and Vodafone Business IoT have made their integrated subscriber identity modules (iSIM) solution available for enterprises to sample.

The solution is said to reduce weeks or even months of development time for manufacturers, allowing businesses to accelerate internet of things (IoT) projects and scale rapidly.

The companies regard iSIM as a major step forward in the evolution of the SIM, seeing use in IoT devices to connect to the mobile network. It enables the functionality of a SIM card to be securely integrated with the chip to deliver a “significant time-to-market advantage” for firms looking to build connected devices, as well as allowing devices to be more compact with enhanced tamper-resistance and security.

Kigen and Vodafone Business IoT believe that with their solution – now commercially available directly on multiple chipsets – they can offer a streamlined pathway to faster product deployment and international scalability, reducing the time and operational burden involved for enterprises in the development of IoT products and services.

The companies said that the acceleration in the product is possible due to Vodafone’s connectivity being directly integrated into Kigen’s iSIM Secure Package on the customer’s selected chipset or module, making the process of scaling “seamless” for enterprises. 

They stated that the optimisation of the product is a direct result of learnings derived from the increasing demand for their managed connectivity solutions across numerous industries such as wearables; smart health devices; asset tracking, including track and trace applications; water monitoring; and industrial and commercial metering products, which require long battery life of around 10 years or more. 

Consolidation of chip components inherent to iSIM technology is also said to have reduced costs associated with sourcing individual components of the SIM, export or import costs and time invested in negotiating individual agreements with suppliers, which is often a significant proportion of product development.

Streamlining iSIM integration during manufacturing automates connectivity on deployment can lower costs associated with manual installation and energy consumption, helping to reduce carbon footprint, said the companies.

Commenting on the launch, Vodafone IoT chief executive officer Erik Brenneis said: “We’re delighted to further our collaboration with Kigen providing worldwide iSIM connectivity to more customers in more countries, as well as hyper-scaling our managed connectivity service.

“[Vodafone Business IoT’s iSIM connectivity service] is especially beneficial for applications – such as smart meters and tracking devices – that use our low power, wide-area (LPWA) IoT networks.

“Our integrated SIM can help businesses across almost every industry simplify their production processes, reduce their costs and help them to save on energy costs, as well as giving them access to secure and reliable connectivity wherever they operate across the globe. We look forward to scaling our iSIM service with new emerging technologies.”

 Kigen chief executive officer Vincent Korstanje added: “Enterprises with a global focus are leading the charge for rapid iSIM integration, emphasising speed to market as a vital factor in their product strategy.

“With Vodafone Business IoT, the iSIM Secure Package empowers manufacturers to distribute devices at scale, eliminating the traditional wait for SIMs and setting a new benchmark in secure IoT.”