The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has released guidelines allowing the use of embedded SIM cards in-built in devices. e-SIM uses a software to provide the services that a SIM card does, making it a virtual variant of the physical card. How this will work The e-SIM will come preinstalled when a device is purchased. Details of the telecom service provider can simply be updated while purchasing a new connection. Similarly, when a customer wants to port to a different service provider, they can do so without changing the physical SIM card and just updating details. This is likely to ease the process of porting. “To cater the needs of modern technological developments in M2M/IoT, it has been decided to permit the use of “Embedded-Subscriber Identity Module (eSIM) with both single and multiple profile configurations with over the air subscription update facility, as the case may be, as per prevailing global specifications and standards,” the DoT said in a circular. Timing Notably, the order comes just days after the sale of Apple Watch Series 3 began in India, in partnership with Airtel and Jio. The said device uses an e-SIM technology. The two telcos also sparred over the use of this technology, after Jio claimed that Airtel hasn’t installed an eSIM provisioning node within India, calling it a “gross violation to the license terms” and complained to the DoT. Airtel, in response, had rubbished the claims. In October last year, China had suspended the cellular connection in the Apple Watch Series…
