The arrival of the SGP.32 ‘IoT’ remote SIM provisioning standard looms large over providers of cellular-based IoT connectivity this year. Over the course of 2024 we at Transforma Insights have delved into the topic from a variety of angles. And on 16th October we share further thoughts during a free Virtual Briefing ‘What enterprises need to know about using SGP.32 ‘IoT’ remote SIM provisioning’ (more details of which are below).
At the start of 2024 we at Transforma Insights included the technology as one of our ‘Transition Topics’ for the year. We noted: “The technology for eSIM and remote SIM provisioning (RSP) have been part of the IoT connectivity landscape for almost a decade, although in reality only commercially viable for a few years. During 2023 a specific IoT SGP.32 standard for remote SIM provisioning was agreed and devices will become available probably around the end of 2024. Transforma Insights expects this to be the dominant form for RSP. The new standard adopts a very different approach to the previous M2M variant and allows for much greater flexibility for users to switch connectivity providers. However, commercial models and the likely impact are unclear. Our research in 2024 will examine the most likely scenarios for how the new technology will impact the market.”
As it happens, the technology impact has actually not been felt in 2024. The roadmap for getting SGP.32 devices into market has extended into 2025. So, in reality the impact will be felt mostly next year. But there has certainly still been a lot of careful consideration of the impact and how the technology will be implemented. To that extent, while the end customers may not be on the receiving end of much SGP.32, the vendor community is certainly looking carefully at the associated propositions.
In the previous section I said that the end customers aren’t on the receiving end of SGP.32. But, to a surprising extent give the esoteric nature of the technology, many enterprise adopters have identified SGP.32 as a potentially highly useful technology. They are asking Transforma Insights about it, and they are also asking MNOs/MVNOs. This speaks to unmet demand. It also possibly speaks to overblown expectations. Quite a large number of companies clearly see it as some sort of magic wand for solving their connectivity needs and a big change from the existing processes.
Which brings us to a Position Paper that we at Transforma Insights published in June ‘Key considerations for Enterprises looking to adopt SGP.32’ which laid out in great detail how the technology alone does not solve all of the challenges of deploying multi-country IoT connectivity. Most enterprise deployments are still optimally done as part of a managed service which handles all aspects of managing the connectivity besides just the eSIM profile switching.
While SGP.32 won’t be available itself until 2025, we have seen a lot of jockeying for position with pre-standard SGP.32 offerings from some MVNOs, based on SGP.22 with proprietary device agents to handle profile switching. Clearly connectivity providers have identified that there’s an appetite for the technology even if the technology itself is not really available. Well, the MVNOs anyway. The MNOs seem steadfastly averse to anything not standards-based. Which is natural.
What is also noticeable is that the significant levels of scepticism that we saw from the MNOs even as recently as 12 months ago has largely evaporated to be replaced by something between enthusiasm and resignation depending on the operator.
For our Communications Service Provider IoT Peer Benchmarking report, published in July, we spoke to 25 of the world’s leading IoT connectivity providers, both MNOs and MVNOs. The views on and approaches to SGP.32 were a key topic of conversation. As noted in that report: “Generally the view was relatively positive, more so than we might have expected from MNOs, who we previously noted had frequently expressed some reservations about the technology.”
Amongst the MNOs, there is universal acceptance that it is coming, and a willingness to work with the technology. AT&T, for instance, is actively looking to make use of the technology to enhance its global proposition. SGP.32 may also act to drive some further inter-MNO collaboration (such as that seen with Verizon, Telenor and Bell) whereby they make use of the technology in order to provide a seamless cross-carrier proposition with single point of contact. Historically MNOs have been quite bad at working with each other to support multi-country IoT services. SGP.32 (and increasing competition from the MVNOs) may be a driver to doing that. Regional operators such as Ooredoo and Singtel are likely to find themselves much in demand as partners.
On the 16th October 2024, as a follow up to the Position Paper mentioned above, Transforma Insights and Eseye will deliver a free Virtual Briefing 'What enterprises need to know about using SGP.32 ‘IoT’ remote SIM provisioning' exploring the SGP.32 technology and the associated commercial models. Leading IoT experts, Matt Hatton, Founding Partner of Transforma Insights, and Ian Marsden, Co-Founder and CTO of Eseye, will share their views on the emerging technology and the impact that it will have on enterprise IoT adoption.
The webinar will provide an invaluable set of insights for enterprises considering the use of SGP.32 for their cellular-based IoT connectivity. Topics for discussion on the webinar will include:
We hope you can join us to learn more about this important new technology.
