Tech Insights: IoT SIM Cards as Access to Europe’s Mobile Network

When considering optimization potential for cellular network measurement and scalability, the high monthly costs and administrative overhead of SIM cards quickly become a challenge. Since each measurement system requires 48 SIM cards, these factors increase proportionally with the number of devices deployed. Additionally, traditional SIM cards often come with unnecessary features like phone and SMS flat rates, which are irrelevant to our application but still incur costs.

As part of the project, we focused on LTE-M and NB-IoT technologies and examined the IoT SIM cards specifically designed for these use cases to analyze their benefits and their contribution to system efficiency.

General Benefits of IoT SIM Cards for Mobile Measurement Systems

Global Roaming: IoT SIM cards provide access to nearly all mobile networks
Access to Latest Technologies: Enables access to LTE-M and NB-IoT
Cost Efficiency: Affordable and flexible rates, such as €10 for 10 years of usage

Challenges and Choosing the Right Provider

Selecting the right provider is crucial, as each IoT provider has different roaming agreements. The choice should align with specific requirements and the availability of local networks. Therefore, we evaluated three providers: 1nce, whereversim, and Telit Cinterion.

Technical Advantages of IoT SIM Cards

Technology Variety: Supports GSM, UMTS, LTE, LTE-M, and NB-IoT (NR is not yet available)
Provider Switching: Seamless switching between different providers is possible

Conclusion

IoT SIM cards significantly reduce ongoing costs while enabling seamless cross-border use of mobile networks. They provide access to modern technologies like LTE-M and NB-IoT, allowing for precise and efficient mobile network measurements. Their flexibility in configuration enables easy adaptation to different networks and technologies, ensuring maximum efficiency and versatility. The openRISE ecosystem will leverage these advantages to fully harness the potential of IoT SIM cards and further enhance the system's performance.