IT Brief New Zealand - Technology news for CIOs & IT decision-makers
Story image
Thales takes eSIM platform onto Google Cloud
Tue, 5th May 2020
FYI, this story is more than a year old

Thales has deployed the world's first GSMA-certified eSIM activation solution on Google Cloud.

This solution will offer telecom operators secure and scalable support to manage increases in mobile subscriptions for eSIM-capable devices.

eSIMs are a type of SIM card directly embedded into devices to allow for remote provisioning and continue to be a seeing growing market.

Adoption of this new technology is being fueled by a new generation of smartphones, tablets, wearables and new IoT use-cases including market-leaders Samsung and Apple.

Thales' subscription management expertise not only ensures seamless remote activation of a vast number of devices but also provides data analytics and protection of the subscriber's data.

“The combination of Thales and Google Cloud's global technology expertise is a perfect match to address the challenges of the eSIM market in a very innovative manner,” says Google Cloud telecom, media and entertainment industry solutions managing director Anil Jain.

“Thales' new cloud infrastructure enables the expected and significant growth in eSIM-capable devices to be tackled seamlessly. We know Google Cloud's scalability will be critical with the rise of 5G networks and the cellular network connectivity of billions of IoT devices worldwide."

With telecom operators facing the combined challenges of rapid digital transformation and a drastically growing eSIM ecosystem, Thales has responded by creating a public cloud-based version of its eSIM Remote Subscription Platform which will initially run on Google Cloud.

Thales has implemented first-class security standards specifically designed to meet the requirements of GSMA certification in a public cloud environment.

Telecom operators can also benefit from the Thales subscription management solution which offers operational flexibility, both in terms of auto-scaling and capacity management.

As a result, enterprises will be able to take full advantage of subscription business growth in the years ahead.

“By collaborating with Google Cloud teams, we have designed a global service to answer the exponential demand for new eSIM devices,” says Thale mobile connectivity senior vice president Emmanuel Unguran.

“This hybrid infrastructure is a springboard to innovative IoT applications in a standardized and interoperable security framework. By achieving GSMA certification our cloud-based solution provides a trusted and compliant platform for telecom operators.

ABI Research stated in March that there is ‘no question' that 2020 eSIM smartphone shipments will go over the 225 million milestone.

The technology research and consulting company projects 500 million eSIM-capable smartphones will ship globally in 2024, as Apple, Google and Samsung as well as other vendors get on the eSIM bandwagon.