Ushering in the eSIM era

Mobile devices are set for yet another revolution. Just as CDs and DVDs now live out their lives on the shelf gathering dust as people consume content directly from the cloud, the same fate now awaits the humble plastic SIM card – set to be replaced by the eSIM.

Designed to be embedded (hence the “e”) into a mobile device, you never have to change an eSIM, regardless of how many times you switch service providers. The technology lets you to download and maintain up to eight digital profiles on a device at any given time, allowing you to switch between service providers at a whim.

And while the transition will be gradual, we’re already seeing eSIM capabilities in some of the latest smartphones, (e.g. iPhone, Samsung Fold, and Pixel), 14 new Windows laptops by multiple OEMs, as well as numerous tablets and smartwatches. With the power to drive the connections between the billions of consumer and enterprise devices in use around the globe, eSIM is set to be a key driver of IoT growth – and monetization.

With disruption, comes challenge

As with any technology, eSIM brings significant business and technology challenges. Some of the key ones that service providers must overcome include:

• The new eSIM customer experience is complex and cumbersome, with each OEM having its own proprietary processes and screens. The consumer is also limited to performing basic actions such as SIM swaps, device upgrades, as well as analyzing and fixing issues.
   
• Call center support representatives lack the ability to troubleshoot all eSIM-enabled devices from one screen (e.g. analyzing and troubleshooting profile download issues and performing proactive corrective actions).
   
• Onboarding OEMs, as well as BSS integration and modification, is complex, with each OEM requiring development of new protocols and processes, as well as integrations and certifications.
   
• Integration to other ecosystem players, such as stores, PoS, channels, roaming and more each requires its own solution.

Amdocs: taking the lead

Just as Spotify and Netflix introduced powerful, digital experiences to capture and lead their respective mega-markets, so too Amdocs is revolutionizing the industry by designing innovative solutions that address the challenges at hand, while enabling comprehensive digital eSIM experiences.

Three years ago, we began our journey to establish ourselves as leader in the eSIM space. By recognizing the opportunity while still in its infancy, we could anticipate its implications, challenges – and opportunities – for the ecosystem before anyone else. We were also the first to identify SaaS as the optimum approach to enabling an innovative, advanced and comprehensive solution to the eSIM challenge.

Amdocs’ eSIM SaaS solution, by serving as a single point of integration for all stakeholders – service providers, OEMs, and eSIM vendors – fills this role. It provides a unified experience for the entire eSIM lifecycle, while delivering seamless compatibility for the numerous integrations, downloads and activations that are needed, while also eliminating the complexity. Already, we have completed multiple successful projects and rolling out many more. We’ve also established very close partnerships with leading OEMs including Apple, Samsung, and Microsoft, to support their unique device entitlement requirements.

Learn more about the eSIM opportunity.