When Samsung first announced its new Gear S2 smartwatch, one of the models unveiled was the Gear S2 3G with integrated e-SIM and voice support. The company today announced that its new Samsung Gear S2 classic 3G will in fact be the first device to use an eSIM compliant to GSMA Consumer Remote SIM Provisioning (RSP) architecture.
“At Samsung, we aim to meet and anticipate consumers’ needs and the development of the first GSMA-compliant eSIM is further example of our pursuit of meaningful innovation,” said Yunsang Park, Senior Vice President of R&D Office, Mobile Communications Business at Samsung Electronics. “We are excited to introduce Samsung Gear S2 3G classic as not only a starting point for more devices to be connected globally, but as a step forward in our commitment to support the development of the IoT market.”
The news follows the GSMA’s announcement that a specification is now available for eSIMs for devices such as smartwatches, fitness bands or tablets. Such digital SIMs will allow users to switch between carrier networks without having to change physical SIMs. Aside from the convenience of an all-digital solution, manufacturers will be able to either make their devices smaller or incorporate new hardware or larger batteries without having to make the device larger.
The new eSIM standard will be supported by a number of telecom operators including AT&T, CK Hutchison, Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, EE, KDDI, NTT DOCOMO, Orange, Rogers, SFR, Sprint, Telefónica, Telenor, TeliaSonera, Telstra, TIM, Transatel, Verizon and Vodafone.
The new Samsung Gear S2 classic 3G equipped with GSMA compliant eSIM is set to begin shipping next month. With carriers such as AT&T and Rogers onboard, we could see it in North America in the near future.
An additional specification will follow in June to cover smartphones specifically.