Noam Lando, co-founder and CEO at Webbing, introduced some of the advantages that eSIM could bring to enterprises and global businesses, as well as the opportunities for MVNOs to tap into this market.
Who is Webbing?
Webbing, a global MVNO and eSIM solution provider, offers services from SGP02 to SGP32, targeting IoT use cases. Established 14 years ago, Webbing was acquired last year by Wireless Logic, a UK-based company and one of the largest global operators. As a subsidiary of Wireless Logic, Webbing combines its roles as an MVNO and a platform provider to deliver comprehensive connectivity solutions.
What challenges have global enterprises faced before the development of eSIM?
Cellular coverage
Before the introduction of eSIM, large enterprises had to rely on local providers for domestic connectivity and negotiate roaming tariffs for their global staff on a branch-by-branch basis. This meant negotiating voice and data roaming rates for each country, which was a complex and time-consuming process.
Complex logistics
Enterprises with 20-30 global offices faced the challenge of sticking with their domestic provider's roaming packages, leading to logistical issues when onboarding and offboarding employees. They needed to manage physical SIM cards in bulk for smartphones, laptops, iPads, and other devices, which involved staging operations and ensuring they had the necessary SIM cards. Switching from one operator to another was particularly challenging, as it required replacing physical SIM cards, a process that private consumers find much easier.
Business continuity
Additionally, business continuity posed another significant challenge. Enterprises needed to have the ability to swiftly move from one operator to another and migrate all their subscribers efficiently. With removable SIM cards, they were practically locked into their current provider, even if the devices themselves were not locked. This often required waiting until end-user devices were upgraded before deploying new SIM cards, complicating the transition process.
In a nutshell, eSIM addresses these issues by streamlining global connectivity for enterprises, reducing the complexity of negotiating roaming agreements, and eliminating the need for physical SIM cards. This innovation allows for smoother onboarding and offboarding of employees, easier transitions between operators, and improved business continuity. As a result, enterprises can achieve greater flexibility, efficiency, and cost savings in their global operations.
How can MVNOs utilise eSIM to not only address the earlier-mentioned challenges but also serve global enterprises better than operators?
Noam Lando provided examples of how Webbing can address the enterprises’ challenges mentioned above and how MVNOs can offer attractive services to enterprises traditionally working with MNOs.
Device onboarding
eSIM presents a significant opportunity for faster device onboarding. Webbing's solutions streamline global connectivity, making it easier for enterprises to manage their global staff's roaming needs without relying solely on local providers. By leveraging eSIM technology, MVNOs can enter this space and provide enterprises with efficient, flexible, and cost-effective connectivity solutions, enhancing their ability to swiftly switch operators and maintain business continuity.
Noam Lando highlighted that for enterprises, the impact of eSIM technology would be even more significant because what is important for them is that they can perform eSIM activation remotely without the need for QR codes or in-app processes. This streamlined approach simplifies device management, enabling enterprises to efficiently onboard and manage devices without physical interventions, further enhancing operational efficiency and flexibility.
Global coverage
A significant advantage of eSIM, particularly with Webbing’s offerings, is the provision of global coverage. By integrating multiple MNO or MVNO eSIM profiles, enterprises can expand their coverage footprint and optimize their rates, moving away from dependence on a single provider, usually their domestic one. This decoupling of domestic and global plans through eSIM allows for enhanced coverage and cost efficiency.
MDM integration - Holistic data management
Noam underscored the critical role of MDM integration in enterprise operations. These platforms enable the remote management of devices such as laptops, tablets, and smartphones, including scenarios involving BYOD. This capability is pivotal for facilitating eSIM profile downloads and streamlining the enterprise onboarding process.
eSIM provisioning for multiple devices
The Webbing eSIM solution offers streamlined deployment for iPhones in enterprise environments using EAD (eSIM identifier) through MDM platforms, enabling bulk provisioning of eSIM profiles without QR codes or app installations. Another advantage is the ability to manage a secondary eSIM profile for global use, separate from the domestic profile, allowing flexibility for data and potentially voice services across different countries. Future developments in SGP 22 aim to standardize remote eSIM subscription control, enhancing operational flexibility for enterprises.
Local data breakout for better performance
Another benefit that local MVNOs can provide is local data breakout. When comparing traditional roaming plans, if someone travels from the US to Japan and tries to operate a Zoom or Teams call, all the traffic will route back from Japan to the US. This routing causes a latency issue of at least 300 to 400 milliseconds, leading to delays in the call. However, by utilizing a local or regional eSIM, there is a local breakout, significantly improving the latency.
Enabling laptops
Noam says “When it comes to laptops, this is a new topic for us and, I believe, for the industry as well. We can see growing demand from enterprises and observe OEMs like HP, Dell, Lenovo, Microsoft Surface, and others deploying new laptop models with embedded eSIM. It's clear that these models use the SGP 22 standard, as they are consumer devices, not SGP 32. By utilizing MDM together with new logic developed on the Windows platform, the eSIM download can be automated directly from the target carrier, whether it's an MNO or MVNO. This allows enterprises to decide and mix and match between MVNOs and MNOs on which profiles they want to use.
With laptops, the focus is on data only, as they do not have a voice element, which could be seen as a limitation. However, for data, enterprises can opt for a data subscription or eSIM subscription for domestic use provided by their home operator, and a global provider for their international use. They can even have multiple providers and automate the eSIM download in a seamless and transparent manner from the end-user perspective. Since these are corporate-owned devices, the IT department will decide the policy and manage the deployment of these eSIM profiles.”
Private networks are on the rise
Another use case that has emerged is the integration of private networks, where some enterprises wish to connect their devices to a private 5G network. In such cases, roaming is not a viable option. If a local profile can be provisioned to a laptop or iPhone, enabling automated switching to the 5G profile based on business rules, enterprises could greatly benefit. This automation would allow devices to seamlessly switch to a private 5G profile when within the network's jurisdiction and revert to the public profile when outside the private network.
Noam continues: “An example of a local breakout, although slightly different and somewhat unrelated to eSIM itself, involves the concept of global eSIM. This concept leverages the advantages of global roaming by automatically selecting the best available network. However, as mentioned earlier, roaming has the limitation of routing traffic through the home network. This limitation can be mitigated by the automated switching between private and public network profiles, providing significant benefits to enterprises.
So we twisted it a bit and deployed multiple packet gateways globally again on our network as Webbing and that allows us to still use roaming and again have the benefit of multiple networks when you travel, but point to the relevant route the GTP traffic, the user plane traffic to the nearest packet gateway. So eventually from an end-user perspective, you can still travel from the US to Japan, and use a roaming eSIM, but the traffic will go directly to the internet from the data center in Japan. So it will have an IP address and then the applications like Zoom and Teams will walk like a local SIM in terms of latency.”
Key takeaways:
To summarise, streamlining eSIMs for enterprises differs slightly from the consumer approach. Enterprises typically prefer a postpaid solution, as they are accustomed to purchasing services from telcos on a postpaid basis. Therefore, it is crucial to have all the necessary billing systems and BSS solutions in place. Once connected to relevant platforms, such as the Apple lookup server and the enterprise's MDM, significant benefits and key differentiators can be realised, enabling enterprises to fully leverage the eSIM revolution.
Noam summarised his presentation with: “We do see MVNOs providing a great service to enterprises. Currently, many MNOs still issue eSIMs with QR codes, sometimes printed on cardboard or plastic, without fully embracing digital media. By automating eSIM downloads directly to laptops using the corporate MDM, MVNOs can offer a substantial advantage over traditional MNOs. This automated process provides a significant benefit, streamlining the integration and management of eSIMs for enterprises.”