Breaking Free from Carrier Lock-In: How eIM is Redefining Connectivity for Connected Vehicles

2026 is the year that connected vehicles go global.

Digitally-enabled car services are currently a $15 billion industry. Analysts expect this to evolve into a $3.5 trillion sector within the next 20 years, as demand for connected vehicles grows internationally.

For the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) that produce these vehicles, and the IoT companies that operate them, this future presents both opportunities and challenges. The potential benefits of a global marketplace can only be enjoyed once companies have built the necessary IoT framework and scalable strategy to serve it.

Mobility preferences, too, vary across the globe: McKinsey predicts that shared and micromobility services like e-scooters and ridesharing apps are set for rapid growth in Asia, Europe and the Middle East, while private vehicle ownership takes precedence in North America.

Serving these variant global needs while being tied to a single operator – or rigid roaming setups – creates cost inefficiencies, coverage gaps, and slow market adaptation. New developments in 5G networks, eSIMs, and eSIM IoT Management may hold the (ignition) key.

The Robotaxi: coming soon to a city near you

For the first few years of its operation, driverless taxi company Waymo was limited to Arizona and California, ferrying tech workers around Silicon Valley’s backyard. Now, the brand has begun testing in London and Tokyo, with plans for further international expansion.

Despite a mixed reception among the public, the UK government has embraced the services, claiming that the autonomous vehicles industry could create 40,000 new jobs and add over £42 billion to the UK economy. Britain isn't alone here: Waymo recently secured over $16 billion in funding while announcing plans to expand into 20 new cities over the next year.

While they may grab the headlines, driverless cars and robotaxis only occupy a fraction of the connected vehicle market, also referred to as "software-defined vehicles", or SDVs. The sector encompasses any vehicles that rely on software, rather than hardware, to control their key features. Now, it's estimated that 90% of all new vehicles built by 2030 will be “software-defined” – in 2020, this was just above 1%.

The hidden constraint in connected mobility: carrier lock-in

As the global availability of wireless internet continues to grow, OEMs and mobile operators are adjusting their scope to serve this and expand connected vehicle fleets across borders and into new markets. Doing so requires a fundamental rethink of the vehicles’ wireless connectivity and workable global connectivity for OEM vehicles.

We’ve previously outlined the challenges of scaling IoT and connected device fleets across borders: for connected vehicles, which require real-time connection and state-of-the-art safety features, the need is even more pressing, and the challenges even more acute. Many OEMs still rely on static agreements that limit flexibility across markets. A domestic roaming contract, tied to a single network operator, is not designed for international operations.

Being “locked-in” to a single connectivity contract requires IoT companies to negotiate roaming agreements for each country of operation individually, placing unreasonable strain on IT administrators and finance departments. Long-term, it prevents companies from being able to re-deploy their fleet as needed, limiting growth and hindering entrance into new markets.

Here, we explore how new standards like SGP.32, and innovations like eIMs can pave the way to a successful global IoT strategy and connected vehicle connectivity solutions.

IFPP and eSIMs for connected cars

The recent shift from SIM cards to eSIMs in smartphones was driven largely by device manufacturers who realized that their customers would prefer the usability advantages that eSIMs offered. In the same way, OEMs and vehicle builders are leading the charge towards network-agnostic connected cars that aren’t bound to a single operator or mobile network.

Despite growing concerns about planned obsolescence, automobile manufacturers generally still design vehicles for long-term usage. Automotive brands need the freedom to be able to sell vehicles in any market, with one eye on the growing global demand for connected vehicles.

In-factory profile provisioning (IFPP) is the process by which an eSIM profile is added to a device (or vehicle) during the initial construction phase, under the purview of the OEM. For connected vehicle manufacturers, moving eSIM provisioning upstream like this provides them with greater control over the capabilities and performance of their product, and accelerates time to market. In the SDV era, where wireless connectivity is increasingly required for essential vehicle features, IFPP is becoming a necessary element of the vehicle design, manufacturing, and testing process.

Challenges ahead

Already, automotive brands are seeing consumer pushback on many software-defined vehicle connectivity features, with concern over the growing presence of microtransactions and software locks.

In some cases, manufacturers have used their vehicles' in-car wireless connectivity to ransom previously free, offline features, from navigation to cruise control, behind a paywall. While SDVs offer clear financial advantages to OEMs, the next generation of cars must convince that connectivity provides genuine usability instead of profitability. By breaking out of carrier-lock-in contracts, newer SDVs, backed by eIMs and SGP.32 eSIM automotive standards, offer more flexibility and consumer choice.

Security is another beneficiary of SGP.32 and eIMs.

Like all wireless devices, connected cars are a potential target for cyberattacks. By incorporating a dedicated network provider's eSIM profile for security updates, the eIM can provision and control this secure firewall while a second profile is operated by the user.

When coupled with a global IoT connectivity provider like 1GLOBAL, the vehicles are protected from connection bottlenecks, ensuring every vehicle is shielded from cyber threats with a VPN tunnel enabled. This frictionless experience is key to the success of SDVs: while customers require frequent security and software updates, they also expect them to be achieved with minimal effort or fuss.

Drivers don't have time to manually confirm every software update or "reboot" their cars to download a new security feature. An SGP.32-based eSIM ecosystem brings the OEMs more control over vehicle behavior and allows for seamless updates, all with minimal driver intervention required.

SGP.32: a new control layer for automotive IoT

An eSIM IoT Manager (eIM), as defined in GSMA SGP.32, introduces a scalable, API-driven architecture for IoT. It enables OEMs to remotely manage connectivity profiles across entire vehicle fleets with far greater flexibility and efficiency.

SGP.32 is an eSIM standard that allows vehicle manufacturers and IoT fleet operators to instantly and remotely change a vehicle’s mobile network operator. This allows them to utilize the best possible local network and provider for each vehicle’s location, switching to new networks when needed.

For OEMs, it makes their vehicles a more attractive product: whether it’s a family buying a personal car or a logistics company commissioning a fleet of vans, people expect vehicles to be long-term purchases that provide years of service.

Dynamic operator switching and regional optimization

IoT companies that use eSIM and eIM-enabled vehicles have the freedom to redistribute fleets around the world as needed, without having to renegotiate roaming contracts with new network operators or remaining tied to a single domestic carrier.

For IoT fleet operators, it opens a world of business possibilities. A well-known general market headache is over-the-air (OTA) network switching is especially critical in countries such as Brazil, India and Turkey, where there are regulations against permanent roaming or requirements for local data residency.”

In contrast to earlier standards like SGP.02 new SGP.32 eSIMs require no MNO pre-integration to download or manage a SIM profile. By eliminating this step, the standard paves the way for massive-scale eSIM deployments and simultaneous management of global vehicle fleets. Decoupling connectivity from management platform and hardware allows OEMs to renegotiate contracts, introduce multi-operator connectivity strategies, and manage software over a vehicle’s full lifecycle without physical intervention.

Placing IT administrators in the driver’s seat: eSIM management for international fleets

While SGP.32 is the standard that makes remote SIM management possible, companies also require a digital platform with which to do so.

An eSIM IoT Manager, or eIM, provides the answer.

An eIM is the basis for the eSIM orchestration layer that allows IoT companies to harness the potential of SGP.32 and eSIM. Through an eIM, brands can deploy, manage, and recall eSIM profiles at scale, anywhere in the world, with no physical input required at the user end.

With eIM, OEMs can switch operators over-the-air based on geography, performance, or cost. This enables local network optimisation, improved QoS, and the ability to adapt connectivity strategies as vehicles move across borders.

A major benefit? With eIM, control over the whole ‘journey’ shifts from the network operator to the OEM. Previously with SMS-based solutions like SGP02, vendor lock-in was inherent. With SGP.32, that is no longer the case. it is now the same experience you have with your smartphone, whereby the customer simply chooses a connectivity partner of their preference. The only difference in IoT is eIM brings operations to scale to manage the fleet.

The 1GLOBAL advantage: vendor-agnostic, future-ready connectivity

As a truly worldwide IoT service provider, 1GLOBAL provides IoT services to companies across the world, helping them to scale across borders and embrace the multi-operator future of eSIM connectivity. This is based on an eIM-ready foundation, market-leading expertise, and a global core network covering 190+ countries.

1GLOBAL combines global IoT connectivity with SGP.32-ready infrastructure, including hosted eIM service and eSIM modules, enabling OEMs to deploy, manage, and scale connected vehicle fleets without lock-in while maintaining performance, compliance, and full control.

IoT companies looking to build sustainable, successful fleets require an international connectivity partner and a powerful, centralized fleet management tool. By adopting 1GLOBAL’s eIM and joining the 1GLOBAL network, administrators can deploy, activate, and manage devices anywhere in the world, at any scale. Serving this skyrocketing demand for connected vehicles is only possible with a scalable strategy – one that allows manufacturers and IoT companies to operate on a global scale, while retaining full control over their fleet operations and connectivity.

Learn more about how 1GLOBAL helps companies grow their IoT services – contact our team today.