Airtel Africa picks Nokia’s iSIM technology to drive digitalisation efforts
NEW DELHI: Airtel Africa has selected Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia’s iSIM Secure Connect technology, in a software-as-a-service (SaaS) delivery model, as part of its digitalisation efforts to offer its customer 5G and Internet of Things (IoT)-based on-demand services.
Nokia in a statement Thursday said it has already supported Airtel in deploying iSIM Secure Connect earlier this month in Nigeria, and the telco now plans to roll out the solution in ten other African markets over the next year.
The announcement follows a successful pilot that the two companies completed at the end of 2022, as per the statement.
Nokia’s telecom SaaS, integrated SaaS SIM (iSIM) Secure Connect technology provides communication service providers (CSPs) and enterprises with the capability to securely manage machine-to-machine and consumer device subscriptions for eSIM- and iSIM-enabled devices.
Nokia said that the Integrated SIM (iSIM) and embedded SIM (eSIM) will give Airtel the ability to remotely store and manage multiple subscriptions for authenticating users and devices on its network.
“We are very pleased to expand Airtel and Nokia’s long-standing partnership in this new area. Nokia iSIM technology gives us new network capabilities, including in the areas of verification and authentication services, while allowing us to offer new network service that our customers are increasingly looking for,” said Razvan Ungureanu, Chief Technology Officer and Information Officer at Airtel. “Nokia iSIM capabilities enable faster service delivery and time-to-value to our customers. With these capabilities, we are proud to help Airtel in Africa expand its digitalization efforts and provide its customers with new on-demand services, transforming their lives,” said Rajiv Aggarwal, Head of Central, East and West Africa (CEWA) Market Unit at Nokia.