International connectivity services firm BICS has collaborated with Microsoft to solve the challenges that come with IoT devices roaming between public and private mobile networks internationally.
The pair say they are enabling secured connectivity and "powerful computing in real-time, anywhere in the world".
As enterprises increasingly adopt private mobile networks to connect on-site technology like machines, AI and IoT devices, they are also implementing use cases that require global connectivity when the devices leave their facilities, or support select devices on public networks with more reliable private connectivity on-site, like asset tracking and workforce connectivity.
BICS and Microsoft say they are solving this challenge by providing SIMs and eSIMs to seamlessly roam between public and private networks - a critical step in making IoT truly open and global. This comes alongside a SIM management platform designed to give organisations autonomy and flexibility to manage their devices and policies easily.
A connectivity management platform is also included, allowing enterprises to easily integrate these SIMs and eSIMs without needing to manage integrations with individual mobile network operators. These capabilities are now available for partners building solutions with Azure private MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing).
“It's unrealistic to expect even the most technology-savvy enterprises to be experts in telco, and yet this has become an expectation today when establishing roaming for IoT-enabled devices”, said Divya Ghai Wakankar, VP of enterprise business and marketing at BICS. “What this collaboration achieves is to ultimately provide private networks a global SIM/eSIM and a platform that handles all the complexities, from network roaming through to SIM provisioning, through one solution.”
"Simplifying roaming via capable SIM management platforms that are easy to consume by enterprises is a growing requirement,” added Shriraj Gaglani, VP, product development at Microsoft. “Microsoft Azure private MEC offers easy, scalable deployment of edge compute and private 5G networks, to simplify the path for enterprises to deploy modern connected applications.
"Together with BICS we’re giving our customers access to ready-to-go SIMs in any format needed to support use cases that leverage both private and public networks."
