Telefónica Germany sets the pace with Thales eSIM subscription management platform
Best known for its core o2 brand, Telefónica Germany is at the forefront of the eSIM revolution.
Alongside an extensive network of physical stores, the company is committed to offering customers a comprehensive, mobile-centric experience. Embracing the eSIM is very much part of this digital mindset. In the space of a year, the volume of eSIM activations per month has doubled and the company set new records in the final quarter of 2020.
Telefónica Germany’s success in eSIM subscriptions has been built also on the foundations of a Thales eSIM subscription management platform. Thales’ solution ensures that Telefónica Germany is ideally positioned to realize the benefits of the new eSIM ecosystem. What’s more, growth lies ahead; adoption of the eSIM in both consumer and IoT/M2M devices will go hand-in-hand with the 5G rollout.
Challenges
The arrival of the eSIM offers MNOs (Mobile Network Operators) a compelling opportunity to attract new subscribers and create additional revenue streams. By 2024, an estimated 2.5 billion eSIM enabled consumer devices will have been shipped worldwide. Another one billion units are destined for IoT/M2M applications(ABI Research). To maximize reach, MNOs must be able to support an increasingly diverse array of OEM eSIM enabled devices, via a range of remote subscription activation methods. Mobile handsets such as the flagship Samsung Galaxy S20 will drive adoption, but the eSIM is also an increasingly common feature in smartwatches and other wearables, as well as tablets and laptops.
For Telefónica Germany, which has more than 44 million mobile subscribers, the cooperation with other telecom providers such as MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) adds to the challenge. A wide array of subscription profiles must be supported for the eSIM, along with the capability to migrate them seamlessly from subscribers’ existing removable SIM cards. Given the growth predicted, Telefónica Germany also needed a platform characterized not just by its reach of eSIM enabled devices, but also its flexibility and scalability.
Thales eSIM subscription management solution
Thales eSIM subscription management platform has provided Telefónica Germany with a single solution that delivers anytime, anywhere subscription activation for all consumer eSIM enabled devices, across all its different subscription profiles. As well as supporting the company’s convenient QR-code based subscription activation method, Thales’ platform offers the potential to embrace the other techniques available to MNOs: generic voucher, default SM-DP+ and discovery services.
Combined with its existing mobile app, and Thales Trusted Digital Identity service for customer onboarding, also known as eKYC (electronic Know Your Customer), the new eSIM subscription management platform completes Telefónica Germany’s fully digital subscriber journey. Complementing the company’s store-based services, customers are now free to choose their preferred channel for getting new connected devices up and running.
Thales is supplying and operating the eSIM subscription management platform on a SaaS (Software as a Service) basis. We accelerate and simplify the service deployment and Telefónica Germany remains free to focus on core business activities. Furthermore, since Thales eSIM subscription management platform utilizes a public cloud-based solution, Telefónica Germany enjoys outstanding scalability to accommodate future growth, as well as the flexibility to efficiently manage seasonal peaks in demand. Binding SLAs (Service Level Agreements) ensure an outstanding end user experience is maintained.
Why Thales?
As the world leader for remote provisioning platforms, Thales’ eSIM subscription management platform demonstrated superior performance and interoperability. Alongside these technical capabilities, Telefónica Germany also benefits from the dedicated support of Thales’ local team, ensuring close co-operation, clear communication and regular updates.
Moving forwards in the eSIM ecosystem
Recognizing the potential of the eSIM market, Telefónica Germany has put in place a clear roadmap. In the years ahead, seamless remote connectivity will be possible throughout a diverse and fast-developing eSIM ecosystem. Thanks to Thales’ eSIM subscription management platform, Telefónica Germany’s reach is maximized and the company enjoys the operational flexibility to adopt different activation methods, as and when required. The seamless remote connectivity of the eSIM also opens the door to numerous new exciting use cases.