Micron Technology and Tata Communications announced their agreement to create a cellular-enabled connectivity solution that will simplify and accelerate large-scale global deployment of internet of things (IoT) devices.
This solution will be powered by a new virtual SIM, the world’s first cloud-based embedded subscriber identity module (eSIM), which offers an alternative to conventional physical SIM cards.
The cloud-based eSIM will be enabled by Micron’s Authenta Key Management Service (KMS), the industry’s first silicon-based security-as-a-service platform for edge devices.
Tata Communications MOVE Global IoT Solution will offer an end-to-end solution for zero-touch onboarding of connected IoT devices to cloud services across 200 countries and territories — backed by the company’s relationships with more than 600 mobile network operators.
IoT services ecosystem is predicted to nearly triple in revenue by 2026 to $466 billion, says ABI Research.
The companies are demonstrating this solution, launching in 2021, at the online Micron and Tata Communications IoT Security Conference today.
“IoT solutions can help businesses become more efficient and productive, and can also bring in new opportunities and innovations, enabling them to scale new levels of growth,” Tata Communications chief strategy officer Tri Pham said.
While industry projections had forecasted 50 billion IoT device deployments by 2020, the deployment of IoT devices touched only around 9 billion. This disparity stems from vastly underestimated challenges with cellular-enabled connectivity and cybersecurity, which hamper IoT growth.
ABI Research predicts only 420 million cellular-connected IoT devices in 2021, just a fraction of total IoT deployments. This gap is due to the logistics required for cellular-enabled services, such as management of physical SIM cards and fixed contracts per operator per country.
“Current hardware security methods are too complex and costly, or they limit scalability and flexibility,” said Kris Baxter, vice president and general manager of Micron’s Embedded Business Unit. “With Tata Communications’ virtual SIM, Micron’s Authenta edge security will bridge this gap.”
Micron’s Authenta security-as-a-service solution powers flash-based IoT identities. The company said Authenta provides security protection for the lowest layers of IoT software. Authenta uses strong cryptographic identity and security features baked natively into flash memory.
This cloud-based eSIM for IoT devices is slated to begin shipping in the first half of 2021, says Tata Communications.
