As the expiration dates of SIM cards for IoT devices that have already been shipped approach, the issues surrounding SIM card management are becoming increasingly prevalent. The daily demands for checking card status, unbinding, and renewing are on the rise. Today, we will discuss the background of SIM card management issues and the challenges currently faced.

Background

Regular SIM cards typically include voice, SMS, and data packages aimed at general consumers, i.e., end users. In contrast, IoT cards are specialized SIM cards provided by telecom operators for enterprise users. Some IoT devices only require a data package, such as water meters and gas meters, while others, like children’s watches, need voice capabilities.

The issuers of IoT cards are the three major operators: China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile. They are responsible for the production and sale of IoT cards and have developed their own SIM card management platforms to provide services to their users, such as checking card status and renewing cards.

In addition to the three major operators selling cards, there are also first-level agents for IoT cards who cooperate directly with the operators. However, the conditions to become a first-level agent for IoT cards are very strict. Apart from needing to procure a large volume of cards from the operators each year, there are also requirements for the activation volume of the cards and the ability to provide customer service. In simple terms, those who can become first-level agents for IoT cards usually have certain R&D capabilities, financial strength, and service capabilities.

Moreover, the mainstream types of IoT cards can be simply categorized into NB-IoT IoT cards and 4/5G IoT cards. Each type has different billing methods and packages. For instance, there are annual packages without data limits like NB-IoT telecom cards, annual packages based on data usage, and monthly packages based on data usage. Once time is involved, different duration options are added, leading to varying prices. For example, a 5-year card from China Mobile costs 20, while a 3-year card costs 15. Calculated annually, the 3-year card is more expensive than the 5-year card.

Challenges

Why are there challenges? Because the price of SIM cards is determined by volume. For small companies like ours, the procurement volume is not large, so the price we get from first-level agents is much lower than that from the operators. Thus:

1. Whenever a first-level agent appears with a lower price, we have to add a new supplier.

2. The old suppliers must be retained as the devices have not yet reached the end of their lifecycle.

Difficulty in Choosing Packages

Different types of devices consume different amounts of data monthly, and the lifecycles of different device types vary. This leads to different data package and duration choices for each device type. Additionally, due to certain business needs, sometimes cards of different durations are required.

When the card is supplied by the customer, it presents another situation.

From the R&D perspective, determining which type of SIM card package to choose can only provide a reference value, while production needs to select different SIM card packages based on varying orders.

Difficulty in Checking and Unbinding Cards

Due to the multiple suppliers for the purchaser and the many choices for the producer, it becomes unknown which supplier provided the device and what the package was at the time. If a device cannot connect to the network on-site, the first thing we check is the SIM card information. We have to ask all the card suppliers with the card number to confirm whether the card status is normal. With the national “Card Disconnection Action” progressing, a single IoT card can only be bound to one device. Therefore, in production or after-sales situations, there are often needs to verify the SIM card. We then have to contact the card supplier to unbind the SIM card. As the first batch of 5-year NB-IoT cards from 2018 approaches expiration, the after-sales issues of checking and unbinding cards are becoming increasingly frequent.

Difficulty in Renewal Management

SIM cards have testing periods, silent periods, and activation periods, and the packages and durations of SIM cards vary. Therefore, when a SIM card is activated, whether the data usage exceeds limits, and whether the usage duration has expired all become unknowns. Since IoT cards are prepaid, without proper management of IoT cards for devices, many times customers report that devices are unusable, and after after-sales troubleshooting, we find out that the card has expired. At this point, it is very likely that the SIM card has been inactive for a month and has been automatically deactivated by the operator. The SIM card needs to be reactivated, and the package has to be reprocessed, leading to new questions about whether the device should continue to be used, the renewal package data limit, and the duration of use, creating a cycle that only becomes more complex.

How to Solve

This is indeed a problem, and we welcome discussions on solutions.

Management of SIM cards has always required foresight. The issues are small yet intricate and very important, and they must be taken seriously.