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The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released a consultation paper on ‘Embedded Sim (e-Sim) for M2M (machine-to-machine) Communications” in which it has sought comments from stakeholders on whether there is a need to prescribe subscription management-secure routing (SM-SR) swapping among the Indian telecom service providers (TSPs) and if yes, what should be the modalities and procedure for such swap.
The Department of Telecommunications in November 2021 had sought TRAI’s recommendations from TRAI for holistic deployment of e-Sim in Indian telecom network including implementation mechanism under different profile - configurations and switch over of profiles by TSPs.
“In this consultation paper, issues pertaining to holistic deployment of eUICC (Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card) in Indian telecom network including implementation mechanism under different profile configurations and switch over of profiles by TSPs have been raised, for consideration and comments of stakeholders,” TRAI said in a statement.
What is e-Sim?
An e-Sim is a form factor that is physically integrated into the device, mostly by soldering to the device printed circuit board (PCB). It cannot be easily removed in the field. As a result, it requires remote provisioning, which is the ability to remotely select the Sim profile deployed on a Sim without physically changing the Sim card.
This technology is standardised and can be implemented on a Sim card with any form factor. The term eUICC is used to represent a Sim card that can be remotely provisioned.
Sims for the purposes of M2M communication are embedded (integrated/soldered) at the point of manufacturing to achieve the standard physical and environmental requirements and are deployed in domestic or international markets.
In the consultation paper, the authority has also asked whether the profile switchover, from one TSP to another, is driven by the user or original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and if yes, what methods can be deployed to execute such switchover.
It has also asked whether the TRAI recommended timeline, about the foreign embedded universal integrated circuit card (eUICC) fitted devices to be on roaming with Indian TSP’s network for a maximum period of three years only or needs a review, and if yes, what should be the timeline after which the eUICC should mandatorily be configured with Indian TSP’s profile.
TRAI has sought written comments on the issues raised in the consultation paper from the stakeholders by August 22 and counter comments by September 5.
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