Scania 45 R BEV 4x2 general cargo transport. Foto:
Scania, manufacturer of commercial vehicles, is developing a new connectivity platform-as-service solution in close cooperation with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D) and G+D subsidiary Pod Group. The new solution serves as a central management portal for management of eSIMs in commercial vehicles and for the control of all IoT activities, such as connecting mobile network operators. The global rollout of the solution will take place by the end of 2023.
Scania has been a G+D customer for several years and uses G+D’s eSIM management solution. The Swedish vehicle manufacturer now wants to go one step further and implement a fully integrated solution that supports centralized management of telecommunications networks, facilitating global deployment of eSIM management. After the evaluation of various offerings, G+D and enterprise network operator Pod Group, which provides IoT solutions, were chosen as the solution partners. The key reasons for Scania’s decision were the success of the existing, longstanding partnership, G+D’s technology leadership, global and local support, and ultimately cost.
In close cooperation, Scania, G+D and Pod are currently designing the platform-as-service environment for the use of Pod Group’s connectivity management platform, Pod IoT Suite. The main focus is on integrating the eSIM management solution with Pod IoT Suite and implementing it in Scania’s internal IT infrastructure.
Scania will use the Pod IoT Suite in the platform-as-a-service model as a central management interface for controlling all IoT activities. The vehicle manufacturer can use it, for example, to analyze data, identify efficiency potential or read off costs. Most importantly, the platform also supports the fast and cost-efficient onboarding of mobile network operators. This gives Scania the option of connecting the optimal provider for each country that meets local requirements and offers the best quality of service in terms of network coverage, for example.
A key advantage of platform-as-a-service use for Scania is that no specific internal expertise is required to operate the networks. The services are bundled in the platform and then provide tailored options for each use case. The G+D solution thus effectively acts as a bridge between Scania and the mobile network providers in the various markets.
Other solution components of the platform concept are G+D’s Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Cards (eUICCs), which were developed specifically for the automotive sector and are used in Scania’s vehicle fleet, and the AirOn360 eSIM management platform. This complies with GSMA-RSP (Remote SIM Provisioning) specifications for IoT applications and supports efficient and secure lifecycle management of eSIMs. The platform provides geo-redundancy, which is ensured through the provision of networked eSIM services at different G+D locations and data centers. G+D´s GSMA-certified data centers provide high availability, ensuring high resilience for eSIM services. www.scania.com
