5G & Hyperscalers Enhance Mobile Tech for Scalable Solutions

5G technology offers mobile users speeds up to 100 times faster than 4G, making for quick downloads and clean streaming. Hyperscalers play a vital role in the management of 5G networks, allowing mobile operators to deploy 5G infrastructure more efficiently and handling the low latency requirements of 5G.

By leveraging hyperscale services, mobile operators can offer better connectivity, faster services, and more reliable networks to their customers. Here, two IT consulting experts give us an insight into how mobile operators benefit from hyperscalers. 

EY works with hyperscalers to strengthen mobile technology solutions

EY has been involved in working with hyperscalers to advance mobile technology, providing consulting services to help organisations use cloud computing to strengthen their mobile solutions. The company works with hyperscalers to supply advanced data management and analytics solutions, which helps mobile operators to process and analyse data from mobile devices. EY also leverages the latest innovation capabilities of hyperscalers to integrate technologies like AI, Machine Learning and IoT into mobile solutions.

Adrian Baschnonga is a Global TMT Analyst at EY, where he offers businesses his expertise on industry dynamics and organisational strategy, helping companies to utilise the latest digital technologies, amplify their customer relationships and strengthen their place in the wider business ecosystem.

“Telco leaders view hyperscalers as a double-edged sword,” Adrian explains. “On the one hand, they see them as critical partners to support their growth ambitions, on a par with network vendors in five years’ time.”

EY supports companies in implementing cloud strategies which align with their business objectives, for example, in migrating mobile applications to the cloud, to ensure stronger scalability. 

In using hyperscalers, EY assists businesses to achieve greater flexibility and scalability in their mobile solutions, helping them to adapt to the latest market changes and customer demands. 

“Yet, hyperscalers are also ranked as the most disruptive threat facing telcos over the same time period, with many respondents highlighting their role as potential competitors in B2B service provision,” he continues. “Going forward, the prospect of ‘coopetition’ will be an important consideration for telcos as they evolve their service propositions with different ecosystem partners.”

Hyperscalers including AWS, Google Cloud and Microsoft Azure provide the required scale and flexibility to support modern mobile technologies.

AWS 

EY works with AWS to support its businesses as they build and deploy mobile apps which can leverage AWS’s cloud infrastructure and services. 

Google Cloud 

Google Cloud partners with EY to help clients to utilise Google’s cloud services, including using Google’s AI and ML capabilities to improve user experiences.

Microsoft Azure

EY supports Azure’s cloud infrastructure to provide secure and scalable mobile services for businesses.

Giesecke+Devrient enhances the hyperscale ecosystem with security and connectivity solutions

Giesecke+Devrient complements the hyperscale ecosystem with its security and connectivity solutions, which can be integrated into hyperscale platforms to enhance security and connectivity.Back in 1991, G+D delivered the first commercial SIM to a telecommunications company in Finland and played a key role in helping develop the early GSM mobile standards.

These two initiatives were both instrumental in mobile phones later becoming ubiquitous in society. Without the invention of the SIM card, telephones would have been unable to function on the go.

“We’re proud to say that G+D was at the very start of the SIM story, which stretches back over thirty years,” says Tobias Lepper, Senior Product Manager for SIM Connectivity Solutions at G+D. 

Yet the SIM card has since evolved. At the beginning of its life, it was an authentication tool that allowed simple cell phones to communicate. For a long time, handsets also had to be designed to a certain size to house removable cards so they could be moved to new devices as they changed hands or networks. 

“Today, it’s a multifunctional security tool that supports numerous applications, including mobile banking, the connected car with infotainment, navigation and emergency systems, smart home controls and wearables,” Tobias explains. 

Building on its history with SIM innovation, G+D delivered the first commercial eSIM to telecommunications giant AT&T in 2012. Since then, the adoption rate of this SIM form factor has accelerated. 

“In February 2023, we announced the milestone of 100m downloads of the G+D consumer eSIM and now already in June 2024 we have hit the mark of 200m downloads,” Tobias shares. “The embedded SIM, or eSIM, is permanently installed as a chip in devices, rather than being a removable card. We’re now seeing the eSIM being used for smart home applications, the connected car and wearables.” 

Other innovations, such as Entitlement Servers like our AirOn360 ES, offer all carriers (MNOs and MVNO) a way to deploy enhanced eSIM experiences, known as entitlements, quickly and effectively. This means the end consumer can benefit from features such as eSIM Quick Transfer for iPhone and seamless activation of the Apple Watch.

“Then there’s the newest generation of SIMs, known as the integrated SIM (iSIM), or iUICCs (integrated Universal Integrated Circuit Card chipsets),” Tobias continues. “Combined with a baseband controller in a system-on-a-chip (SoC) architecture, it is integrated with the IoT device during the production process.”

IoT Analytics, a research company based in Hamburg, recently revealed that mobile operators across the world earned a total US$15bn in 2023, from 3.6bn cellular IoT connections. Results showed that the growth rate of 23% YoY beat that of IoT software companies and hyperscalers. 

The future of mobile and 5G innovations needs hyperscalers

The rise of eSIMs hasn’t just signalled the evolution of SIM cards from the physical to the digital; it is one of the technologies that will have the greatest impact on IoT devices and help to push their adoption, Tobias continues. 

“Devices such as sensor modules, logistics tracking systems and manufacturing equipment take advantage of mobile connectivity and will often have eSIMs incorporated,” he says. “In addition to the technical advantages, eSIMs offer significant sustainability benefits. According to a life cycle assessment by the Fraunhofer Institute, eSIMs have a lower environmental impact compared to traditional physical SIM cards with up to 46% reduction in emissions across the lifetime. This makes them a more eco-friendly choice in the production process which benefits OEMs and IoT device manufacturers as well as a better choice for the conscious consumer.”

Furthermore, since eSIMs are integrated directly into devices during manufacturing, they can provide basic connectivity from the factory or warehouse, known as bootstrapped connectivity. This integration simplifies the production process and ensures that devices are ready to connect to mobile networks as soon as they leave the assembly line.

“As we look to the future, mobile network operators (MNOs) are well positioned to be primary enablers of the exploding IoT market, and they can also create new and convenient consumer device journeys as well in mobile devices. MNO-specific eSIM profiles can be easily loaded, removed or entirely replaced over-the-air to simplify the connectivity management of a device,” he adds. 

As eSIMs are smaller, they require less space in devices, with card holders no longer necessary. This is suited to lean devices such as smartwatches and wearables. But iSIMs are also showing promise, helping to create even smaller and lighter devices that are simpler to manufacture, have reduced power consumption as well as requiring less plastic and packaging material. 

“eSIMs and iSIMs are understandably of keen interest among the handheld and wearable device market, but also trackers and devices that need to last for ten years or more, such as smart electric and water metres. As eSIMs are not susceptible to wear and tear, the life of the connectivity component element of the device is extended,” Tobias continues. 

eSIMs enable users to activate their devices for cellular connection and switch carriers seamlessly, all without the need to wait for a replacement card to be delivered. Consumers can also have multiple eSIM profiles on one device, allowing for easy management of personal and business numbers or different regional profiles. 

Alongside these benefits, eSIMs offer an equivalent level of security and protection to that provided by a removable version. These protocols are based on state-of-the-art cryptographic mechanisms, with the privacy of the end user secured. Governed by the GSMA, a public key infrastructure provides secure authentication of the entities of the ecosystem, with manufacturers of solutions having to undergo GSMA to be admitted.

“eSIMs are also a potential lifestyle choice for the conscientious consumer. By eliminating the need for physical SIM cards, they contribute to reducing plastic waste and the environmental impact associated with manufacturing and shipping traditional SIM cards,” Tobias says. 

iSIMs, meanwhile, provide all the benefits afforded by eSIMs, but by being a tamper-resistant element (TRE) within a system-on-a-chip (SoC), they offer an even smaller footprint and low power requirements. 

“This results in longer battery life, enhancing sustainability. The complete isolation of hardware also provides ultimate security for consumers,” he says. 

Today, there are still numerous smartphones that are not yet eSIM enabled with access often limited to the higher range devices. This is in addition to the fact that not all mobile network operators (MNOs) and Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MVNOs) provide eSIM solutions on their networks. Although both these trends are changing for the positive. But the benefits of eSIM are clear and far-reaching, and there is more awareness required to encourage consumers to prioritise eSIM capability when selecting devices and network providers.

“Significant progress is being made, however. Many major manufacturers are now offering eSIM devices, including IoT sensors, cars, laptops, smartwatches and smartphones. The iPhone 14 in the US even uses an eSIM exclusively, accelerating its market adoption. As the next chapter in the ongoing SIM story, the integration of iSIMs into the baseband chipset paves the way for the next generation of secure IoT connectivity.”

The G+D team are specialists in the secure personalisation of iUICC in IoT devices, and are working with multiple technology partners to commercialise new solutions. 

“Looking ahead, we’re fully committed to the development and implementation of new SIM technologies to help our customers, industries and the environment,” says Tobias. 

Tobias anticipates that the combination of these advanced SIM technologies with 5G, and eventually 6G, along with satellite connectivity, represents the next step in providing true global mobile connectivity. 

Meanwhile at EY, Adrian knows that EY’s work with hyperscalers in mobile technology will help mobile operators to harness the power of cloud computing to enhance their mobile applications, ensuring they are scalable, high-performing, secure and innovative.

Hyperscalers will play an essential part of the management of 5G networks, allowing mobile operators to deploy 5G infrastructure more efficiently and handling the low latency requirements of 5G.

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