This year, we are going to see a lot of hot news and trends coming from broadband and mobile service providers at the Mobile World Congress(MWC) in Barcelona. MWC is held in the Catalan city at the Fira Gran Via from 25th to 28th of February 2019.

One of the most innovative service providers, Deutsche Telekom, is going to be presenting its latest developments for the Internet of Things (IoT), nuSIM, one of many solutions the German company is offering around the future digital society.

Internet of Things: Looking into the future with optimism

Deutsche Telekom is innovating throughout Europe and the U.S. with its new Internet of Things (IoT) service offering. Together with world-leading partners in the fields of IoT chipsets, modules, and digital security Deutsche Telekom has developed nuSIM.

According to Deutsche Telekom CEO Timotheus Höttges, the Internet of Things is going to bring us more prosperity, more free time, and the opportunity to work more decentralized.

With this vision, nuSIM represents a ground-breaking solution which moves the traditional SIM functionality from the physical SIM card directly to the chipset.

The innovation has been specifically designed for low-cost devices used in mobile IoT applications with a long life-span. These applications include asset trackers, smart motion, and temperature sensors. Deutsche Telekom announced that nuSIM is going to be commercially available in the second half of 2019.

According to the operator, nuSIM's open specification set ensures interoperability for the secure provisioning of operator credentials during module or device production.

“Deutsche Telekom has built a solid track record in IoT technology innovation over the past years. The most important success driver for us is to anticipate customer needs to make sure we enable their business success,” says Ingo Hofacker, Senior Vice President, responsible for the IoT business at Deutsche Telekom.

“nuSIM, our rigorously optimized SIM solution for the cost-sensitive mobile IoT market is our latest endeavor and an important building block for our offering moving forward,” he says.

Simplicity and intelligent connectivity benefit everyone

According to a Chinese proverb, simplicity is an advanced course. And Deutsche Telekom seems to have mastered simplicity for the IoT ecosystem very well.

The elimination of the physical SIM card simplifies the form factor of an IoT device as there are no additional contacts, circuit paths or SIM cardholders to consider.

nuSIM provides a minimum hardware and software footprint for cost-efficient implementations with minimal power consumption. In turn, this transforms in simplicity, cost, time, and space savings across the IoT value chain, according to a Deutsche Telekom's recent Tweet.

The benefits for device vendors include better design options thanks to smaller package size and extended battery life, something everyone can really appreciate. SIM logistics such as stock keeping and handling are no longer necessary either.

IoT service providers see benefits as well. They can save costs through a simple digital process. This puts the operator's credentials onto to device during the manufacturing process.

Last but not least, benefits for consumers. The lower cost of devices in addition to the possibility of starting their own mobile IoT project quicker and easier thanks to a fully operational SIM that is already on board calls for a genuine and anticipated feeling of customer satisfaction.

Partnerships that bring general success

All this has been possible thanks to great partnerships between Deutsche Telekom and global industry leaders such as Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, Nordic Semiconductor, Altair Semiconductor, Commsolid/Goodix, HiSilicon, Samsung Electronics, Sequans Communications, Sierra Wireless, Telit, Quectel Wireless Solutions, u-blox, and Giesecke+Devrient Mobile Security.

Additionally, Deutsche Telekom has rolled out NB-IoT across nine European countries as well as in the United States.

LTE-M and mobile IoT innovation

nuSIM is just one of the initiatives Deutsche Telekom is working on to drive innovation in the mobile IoT ecosystem. Most recently, the German company conducted the world's largestNB-IoT indoor measurement campaign together with energy service provider ista.

Through this campaign, it was established that NB-IoT significantly outperforms existing technologies such as GSM, UMTS, and LTE for in-building coverage.

In addition, Deutsche Telekom has also fostered innovation in the LTE-M space. The company also plans to be rolling out its LTE-M in the second half of 2019 in several European markets. LTE-M is based on the LTE 3GPPP standard, it is 5G ready, and only requires a software update in the network.

The hubraum LTE-M prototyping program, with test networks running in Germany, Poland, Austria, and the Netherlands, brought forward pioneering solutions to industry sectors including Smart City, Wearables, e-Health, and Smart Tracking.

For example, Neebo in the UK, created a miniature wearable so tiny small it can be placed around a newborn baby’s wrist. The tiny wearable can monitor then the baby's vital signs.

In the Netherlands, Dutch company Babbler developed a high-value industrial asset tracking solution. This solution tracks cargo containers over long distances connecting them to security alarms. The solution alerts for theft or damage becoming useful and valuable for the manufacturing and logistics industry.

Security solutions have been the focus of Inshoerance in Germany. The company invented ingenious smart insoles with a built-in alarm sensor. The sensor can be activated by just tapping your feet together.

These safety shoes can be useful when people's job requires them to work in quite dangerous places. They can also be useful to some people who are at risk of being kidnapped. Or for anyone living in dangerous neighborhoods whose work make them come home alone late at night, such as some women working night shifts.

During Mobile World Congress, Deutsche Telekom is going to offer an Integrated SIM session on Wednesday, February 27, from 1:00 to 1:45 pm for those who are interested.

Congress attendees who can't make it to the session on Wednesday can also learn about the Integrated SIM by visiting Deutsche Telekom's stand, which you can find downloading the free MWC 2019 application on your smartphone.