French IoT connectivity provider Actility has chosen iBasis and Sequans to roll out programmable cellular IoT using eSIM and iSIM technology.

Massachusetts-based iBasis provides communications for operators and digital players worldwide and Sequans Communications is a French developer and provider of 5G and 4G chips and modules.

Actility had previously worked closely with iBasis to enable roaming between private unlicensed networks powered by ThingPark EPC Connector and public networks, using Simfony’s CMP platform, now fully integrated with iBasis’ Global Access for Things IoT portfolio. The longstanding partnership between iBasis and Sequans has produced several successful proofs of concept.

“After recent collaboration with iBasis, adding iBasis connectivity on our Monarch 2 module with eSIM, and having fully tested the global connectivity on iSIM, we are now advancing into an integrated production phase driven by a customer need,” said Louis Chuang, executive vice president at Sequans. “We are thrilled to reach this important milestone with iBasis whereby we can offer customers a powerful iSIM capability, along with low power consumption, cost-efficiency and GNSS support.”

The low-power multi-technology trackers of Abeeway, an Actility subsidiary, will use Sequans Monarch 2 LTE-M and NB-IoT platform with integrated iSIM and the connectivity profile provided by iBasis, allowing the device to connect to cellular networks worldwide. Actility will also use Sequans Monarch 2, being the first iSIM implementation that has achieved common criteria EAL5+ certification, allowing the use of iBasis’ intelligent profile selection technology with remote update using multiple tier-one operator profiles as provided for eSIM.

The iSIM is fully integrated in the cellular modem and microcontroller unit on a single system on chip (SoC). It relies on the existing eSIM infrastructure accessing 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks using the global footprint of iBasis; iSIM is considered to be the future of connectivity technology for many IoT deployments.

An important step forward in the IoT industry, iSIM influences device design in the areas of space optimisation and reduction of energy and power consumption. By eliminating the need for a separate SIM chip, iSIM should provide a more streamlined supply chain experience when manufacturing a device using cellular connectivity. The entire supply chain could benefit from the reduction of materials, leading to lower costs for manufacturers.

According to Counterpoint Research, beyond 2027 iSIM is projected to take over as the dominant SIM form factor, with the shipments of iSIM-capable devices poised to scale to seven billion units between 2021 and 2030.

With the iBasis Global Access for Things coverage, eSIM and iSIM let enterprises easily adopt a single global, remotely programmable SIM that provides mobile data connectivity to smart devices all over the world.

“After being recognised as a leader in the cellular IoT connectivity market with eSIMs, we are delighted to implement iSIM technology together with our trusted partner Sequans,” said Ajay Joseph, CTO at iBasis. “After many years of research and development, while deploying iSIM technology in trial environments, it is a great achievement by our teams. We strongly believe that iSIM will become a dominant factor within the IoT industry and I am proud to see that we are now able to provide our longstanding customer Actility with our proven IoT connectivity on iSIM.”

Olivier Hersent, CEO of Actility, added: “Our focus is ultra-low-power industrial IoT connectivity. The new cellular trackers of our subsidiary Abeeway leverage LTE-M and NB-IoT, and our ThingPark EPC Connector for unlicensed private cellular networks (such as CBRS) rely on recent 3GPP slicing technologies. We needed cutting edge partners to support reliable LTE-M connections with PSM/eDRX options in permanent roaming as well as iSIMs and, after extensive testing, we selected Sequans for their ability to support iSIMs and because 100 per cent of their software stack is developed in-house, and we selected iBasis for their ability to support complex integration and their focus on quality, based on proactive testing. Together, I think we form the dream team for industrial low-power IoT.”