How Dynamic IMSI Management Can Future-Proof Your IoT Deployments

Picture this: a city plunged into darkness. 

Zurich’s journey toward becoming a smart city started with something simple: smart streetlights. Equipped with sensors to optimize energy use and gather environmental and traffic data, these IoT-enabled lights helped reduce energy consumption by up to 70%. A groundbreaking step toward efficiency and sustainability. But what happens when connectivity fails? 

IoT is reshaping industries, with the market expected to hit a staggering revenue of $1 trillion by the end of 2025. But the path to seamless connectivity isn’t straightforward. Latency issues, long-term roaming restrictions, and high costs create roadblocks for IoT providers and their customers. 

And the impact of IoT connectivity problems shouldn’t be understated. As applications of IoT grow and increasingly become incorporated into everyday life, connectivity problems are likely to be felt far and wide, from city streets going dark to warehouses coming to a standstill.

Challenges of IoT Connectivity in a Global Landscape

• Roaming and Regulatory Restrictions. IoT devices are often manufactured in one country and deployed in another, meaning they are considered ‘permanent roamers’, which several countries try to restrict. 
• Network Reliability Issues. Not all networks are created equally, and IoT devices operate in diverse environments with fluctuating coverage.
• High Connectivity Costs. Traditional roaming-based solutions can lead to high data usage and costs. 

What is Dynamic IMSI Management?

One element that helps fight these concerns is dynamic IMSI management. An IMSI, or International Mobile Subscriber Identity, is a unique number that identifies and authenticates each network user. This is stored in SIM cards, with traditional SIMs containing a single IMSI number that ties it to its home network.

Dynamic IMSI Management revolutionizes this approach by allowing mobile devices, including IoT devices, to dynamically switch between different IMSIs based on network conditions, cost optimization, security needs, or regulatory compliance. Instead of being tied to a single IMSI, devices can store multiple IMSIs and activate the most appropriate one as needed.

This works by preloading IoT devices with multiple IMSIs, typically managed via a cloud-based platform. An IMSI switching mechanism determines when to change IMSIs based on predefined criteria, including location, cost, or network performance. The new IMSI is automatically provisioned and activated, ensuring seamless connectivity. This technology uses remote SIM provisioning and AI-driven network selection to keep the process of switching IMSI seamless, with minimal impact on device users.

Future-Proofing IoT with

Dynamic IMSI Management

Through dynamic IMSI management, IoT providers can streamline and simplify the process of switching networks, as well as ensuring customers and users don’t experience disruption. Beyond these benefits, dynamic IMSI management also helps to future-proof connectivity for IoT. Let’s explore how.

• 1. Overcoming Roaming and Regulatory Challenges

  IoT manufacturers often don’t know in advance where their devices will be deployed. Some countries, like Brazil and China, have stringent regulations against permanent roaming. Devices that violate these rules risk being blacklisted or removed from networks.
  With dynamic IMSI switching, devices can automatically activate local operator profiles instead of relying on roaming agreements. This ensures compliance with local regulations, preventing service disruptions and protecting customer trust.

• 2. Enhancing Network Reliability and Performance

  It’s important not only that IoT devices are able to connect to a network without the concern of regulations, but also that they connect to the best network available.
  Using dynamic IMSI management, IoT devices can switch to the best available network based on signal strength, latency, and performance metrics, helping reduce downtime and improve service quality.

• 3. Reducing Connectivity Costs for Large-Scale IoT Deployments

  Dynamic IMSI allocation also allows IoT devices to use the most cost-effective local network. This can help reduce operational costs and avoid navigating expensive roaming agreements. For enterprises managing hundreds or thousands of devices, the impact of these optimized expenses can be significant, making a real impact on bottom lines. 

The 5G Revolution: Amplifying the Need for Dynamic IMSI Management

One of 5G's most impressive capabilities is its capacity to support up to 1 million devices per square kilometer—a massive increase from 4G's capabilities. This higher density support is critical as IoT deployments continue to scale, particularly in smart cities, industrial campuses, and other high-density environments.

This makes dynamic IMSI management even more valuable, allowing devices to:

• Use 5G where available for high-bandwidth, low-latency applications
• Fall back to 4G networks when 5G coverage is limited
• Optimize power consumption by selecting the most efficient network for each specific task
• Ensure business continuity through network redundancy

Keep the Lights on With Telna

Dynamic IMSI management is key to enhancing global connectivity for IoT. By automatically switching to the best network, dynamic IMSI management can help make latency, roaming expenses, and downtime a problem of the past. With the right partner, this technology can be instrumental in launching scalable, secure, and cost-effective IoT deployments.
Keep IoT deployments connected with Telna’s dynamic IMSI management solution.

Contact us to find out more.

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