AT&T and Kigen are working together to help customers streamline their supply chains. They aim to reduce the time to market for enterprises who want to leverage SIM, embedded SIM (eSIM) and integrated SIM (iSIM) secured connectivity deep in their Internet of Things (IoT) devices.
Kigen’s SIM OS, data generation and key management services will allow AT&T to offer a broader selection for integrated SIM solutions. Manufacturers will enjoy greater flexibility by sourcing their AT&T SIM at the stage of the device manufacturing process that best suits the customer. This might be at the point of contract manufacturing, module supply, or even at the chipset level by leveraging an integrated SIM and merging both chip and SIM into a single component.
Reducing complexity and accelerating time to market will attract new customers that are embarking on their cellular IoT transformation, or those that are accelerating the adoption of secure connected goods and bringing them to market sooner as a result of streamlining the chipset and SIM evaluation process.
Prior to this, device manufacturers had to purchase multiple SIM stock-keeping units (SKUs) for each end-customer or market, which has complicated global product rollouts.
Access to a new cache of SIMs that are compatible with cellular chipsets and secure IC vendors offers additional flexibility that results in supply chain optimisation. This streamlined approach also simplifies the manufacturing process by allowing suppliers, original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and licensees to identify the ideal SIM solution earlier in the design process, meaning device estates can scale sooner upon deployment.
Kigen’s SIM OS, data generation, and key management services will enable seamless access to AT&T’s network across LTE, LTE-M, and Narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) technologies. Simple integration makes it easier for new entrants and established players alike to adopt cellular IoT in their devices sooner while, say the partners, future-proofing them with 5G readiness.
“By working with Kigen we can help enable device manufacturers to streamline their IoT device development and manufacturing,” says William Stovall, vice president, mobility, IoT and 5G, AT&T. “This collaboration will also offer AT&T customers the ability to bring more innovative and secure features to market sooner.”
“Scale is both cellular IoT’s most significant opportunity and hurdle. Removing the complications of placing security at the heart of IoT devices so that businesses can focus on accelerating their products is key,” according to Vincent Korstanje, CEO, Kigen. “The combination of Kigen’s solutions across all types of SIM from our ecosystem with AT&T’s connectivity simplifies how businesses choose the right type of security, tuned to their manufacturing needs; offering trusted IoT that scales.”
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