German IoT company 1NCE has launched Freedom to Switch, said to be a future-proof answer to the vendor lock-in problems that plague the IoT industry.

1NCE embraces open standards as a part of the company’s core principles. At no additional cost, the company’s Freedom to Switch feature offers customers peace of mind to make changes during the lifetime of their devices.

The company’s industrial SIM cards and chips include eUICC technology that ensures users are prepared for any eventuality. They can now add or switch to another connectivity provider without having to touch their device, avoiding the costly expense of truck roll and field service.

“In IoT, scopes change and data insights evolve, so customers should always have the freedom to switch,” said Ivo Rook, chief operating officer at 1NCE. “1NCE thinks it should be a fundamental right for customers to add or change a provider over the lifetime of an IoT project, even if that means leaving us.”

Also new for 1NCE customers is the ability to create test profiles, which help optimise the supply chain by testing connectivity during manufacturing. The test profile is a type of operator profile that’s designed specifically for end-of-line tests. Without changing the SIM, customers can use AT commands to switch from the 1NCE profile to the test profile, perform necessary tests with a network emulator, then switch back before shipping the device. This allows function tests even in regions where 1NCE is not available.

The 1NCE Lifetime Flat subscription is simple: customers can deploy, connect and manage IoT sensors across the world for as little as a dollar per year per device. Complimentary to all Lifetime Flat users, 1NCE OS is enterprise-grade software that supports IoT projects of any scale, for new and existing projects alike. With 1NCE OS for device and cloud integration, users can accelerate time-to-market for IoT projects by months. It also features remote access to device states and telemetry, device location without GPS, and optimised payload transmission to increase battery life by up to 70 per cent.

Customer support is available in 14 languages.

In 158 countries, 1NCE delivers connectivity ready for consumption, opening the world of IoT to innovators who can improve the environment, cities, healthcare, public safety, supply chain and more.

1nce.com