Certification of eUICCs - The Ticket for the GSMA eSIM Ecosystem

January 23, 2018 - To become part of the closed GSMA eSIM ecosystem, all applicants – meaning eSIMs, servers, and devices – must prove that they meet the GSMA requirements. “This ensures that the individual players authorize each other as ‘interlocutors’ and that they are able to communicate,“ explains Dr. Frank Oberhokamp, Product Manager eUICC Consumer Devices Test Solutions at COMPRION. The GSMA as “gatekeeper” of the eSIM ecosystem requires the potential participants to certify their products. “For the eUICC manufacturers, this means that they must pass the required tests of the GlobalPlatform Card Compliance Program successfully,“ according to Oberhokamp.

Test labs and eUICC manufacturers themselves must use a test solution qualified by GlobalPlatform. COMPRION has received this qualification during the last GlobalPlatform TestFest on December 13-15, 2017 in La Ciotat/France. Two COMPRION eUICC Consumer Devices card test benches have been qualified: 1) GSMA SGP.23 RSP eUICC Consumer Devices Test Bench (which checks the profile download) and 2) SIMalliance eUICC Consumer Devices Profile Package Test Bench (which checks the profile interpreter on the card).

“Running these tests is very simple,” says Oberhokamp. “All you need is a PC with a card reader, the COMPRION Connectivity Test Center software and the two test benches. If the tests run without problems, you send the report to GlobalPlatform, where it is verified and certified. If you encounter problems during the tests, then our powerful analysis software enables you to find and resolve them quickly. When you have received the GlobalPlatform certificate, then the GSMA issues an electronic certificate on the card itself that allows the eUICC to enter the eSIM ecosystem.”