Gemalto Launches eSIM Technology for Windows 10 Devices (business-standard.com)

An anonymous reader shares a report: Global digital security firm Gemalto on Tuesday announced it will make available its on-demand connectivity and eSIM technology for Microsoft's Windows 10 devices. The eSIM is designed to be remotely provisioned by mobile network operators with subscription information and is globally interoperable across all carriers, device makers and technology providers implementing the specification. Gemalto's On-Demand Connectivity solution gives service providers the capability to deliver a seamless customer experience for connecting consumer and industrial devices. "eSIM technology remains an important investment for Microsoft as we look to create even more mobile computing opportunities," said Roanne Sones, General Manager (Strategy and Ecosystem), Microsoft.

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Re:But...

[AmiMoJo]

I've used these for work, they are basically globally roaming SIMs. You have a contract with Gemalto or another service provider, and they have deals set up with carriers to most countries to roam on their networks. We have sent them all over the world, from Europe to South America to Iran so Korea, and they just work.

Obviously the contracts are not cheap, but they are mainly aimed at industrial applications where the amount of data is low so a 5MB/month cap is no problem. Yes, five megabytes. They actually go right down to 1MB/month or SMS only.

For a business user who just wants to be able to travel and not worry about getting the right SIM the extra cost would be acceptable.

These SIMs are not reprogrammable. They are like normal SIMs, in fact you can get them in a normal SIM form factor. The eSIM format is a small chip that can be installed inside the device permanently, as long as you don't mind being stuck with Gemalto or whoever as your service provider. Again, they are good for industrial applications because they are robust (can't fall out of the SIM holder), reliable and can't be stolen. In the past people stole SIMs out of our industrial hardware for use in phones.