T-Mobile eSIM Use Case Implementation
Case Study
T-Mobile
T-Mobile US, Inc. is one of the largest 4G and 4G LTE network providers in the United States of America. The company is redefining the way that consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation.
The company’s advanced nationwide 4G and 4G LTE network delivers outstanding wireless experiences for customers who are unwilling to compromise on quality and value. It currently serves more than 67.4 million wireless subscribers and provides products and services through 70,000 points of distribution.
Overview
T-Mobile is making it easy for innovative companies to embrace the M2M revolution. T-Mobile M2M enables always-on connectivity for products and services through T-Mobile’s nationwide network and international partners.
Companies can build eSIM into an assortment of connected product categories including connected car and navigation, mobile health and wearables, among others. Think of a cloud-connected smartwatch or fitness band that’s no longer restrained by borders or operators.
Challenge
Transportation across borders in the US and Canada is increasing at a steady pace. With this increased travel there comes a challenge of the high cost of data roaming. Consider a trucking company that travels frequently between the U.S. and Canada as an example.
Between mapping services, video monitoring, email, fleet tracking software, and vehicle diagnostics, a single truck might easily use 100MB of data per month while traveling in Canada. The roaming cost for that single truck alone could be as much as US$200 per month or nearly US$2,400 per year.
Solution
A unique solution is designed to overcome the roaming cost incurred by traveling across borders. ZIN Technologies together with Gemalto worked on the development of eSIM, where Gemalto manufactured SIMs which can load more than one profile of an operator onto it.
ZIN developed a middleware which serves request between T-Mobile To Gemalto and other operators (Telefonica & Rogers). This middleware provides a UI interface for the user (agents) to manage the functionality plus these same API’s are also exposed to any third party integration.
One of the smart features is that it is location-based profile swapping. If a truck is driving from the US to Canada, as soon as the SIM cross the border and start receiving a signal from Rogers instead of T-Mobile US, it will change profile and load profile for Rogers.
Results
A drastic cut down in roaming costs for all vehicles traveling across the border is the key benefit of shifting toward eSIM. Fleet management will never be the same again anywhere in the world with eSIM in place.