Jola Cloud Solutions' Blog

The M2M global market revenue in 2017 to date is £36bn according to Statista. Fixed IP SIM cards allow data traffic to be routed from Machine to Machine (M2M). We have seen a rise in demand for fixed IP SIMs since we launched our data SIM range back in 2016, but who is buying them and what are they using them for?

What are fixed IP SIMs?

Fixed IP SIMs, as the name suggests, are SIM cards, which come with a fixed IP address. A fixed IP address is an Internet Protocol (IP) address number assigned to a network device. Fixed IP addresses don't change.  An IP address identifies a computer or other device that is connected to the internet. The IP address is how information and data are routed to a specific computer.

Fixed IP SIMs can be used in a variety of devices that require a connection to the internet; from phones, routers and tablets to CCTV cameras and vending machines.

What packages are available?

Jola’s Fixed IP 4G data-only Vodafone SIMs are available in 2GB to 100GB monthly packages, with up to 100GB monthly bolt-ons.

How do you manage fixed IP SIMs?

Our fixed IP SIMs are managed in Mobile Manager, a platform for ordering and managing large estates of SIMs. Our white label portal can be used by both resellers and their end users. It handles SIM activations, ceases, suspensions, reports, alerts and bolt-ons.

What are the benefits of fixed IP SIMs?

When devices are fitted with a fixed IP SIM, you can access and monitor the device remotely. The IP address remains the same, which makes monitoring and managing devices quick and simple.

This is the question we get asked the most. If you have customers wanting to use 4G data to connect devices to the internet, how is the usage controlled, particularly when customers go beyond the alliance in their bundle?

You may have companies with Wi-Fi devices in taxis, buses and coaches or customers providing a Wi-Fi network in guest houses and coffee shops. Trusted partners supplying the 4G SIM cards want to know how they can manage the data and therefore the costs to combat monthly bill shock.

Jola partners use Mobile Manager. It is a complete end-to-end management portal for estates of mobile SIMs. You can activate SIMs, monitor usage, set-up alerts and add bolt-ons or bar SIMs as required to prevent bill shock in most cases. It is one portal, where SIMs from multiple networks and fixed IP SIMs can be managed directly by partners and their end users as required.

SMEs in rural areas without access to fast fibre broadband are turning to 4G as an alternative. 4G is the fourth generation of mobile communication technology and the successor to 3G. 

3 ways to connect

You can connect devices using a 4G router, mobile broadband hotspot device or by tethering from a smartphone.

Benefits

SIM-only contracts are available on 30 days, which is useful for temporary sites. 4G is fast allowing remote workers to easily access cloud-hosted applications. It is a portable solution which works anywhere with a good 4G signal in the UK. There is no need for a telephone line, broadband or a lengthy contract.

Things to note

There may be a limit set by some mobile providers on tethering. You need to keep an eye on usage as mobile data is not usually unlimited and out-of-bundle charges can be high. It is usually more expensive than fibre broadband, which is generally unlimited.

What can we learn from our past?

The Jola management team worked at Griffin Internet for over ten years together. Our CTO invented white-label managed broadband by developing MOPS, a platform to allow resellers to provide ‘own-branded’ broadband connections directly. We promoted it as ‘ISP in a box’. In our first few years we added over 800 partners to the platform, including market leading suppliers in the channel today.

Most commentators felt that when fixed broadband was fast, reliable and affordable, it would become the conduit for SMEs to run their cloud applications over.

We learnt that having a management portal, with APIs into multiple carriers, allowed us to grow significantly without investing heavily in additional resource. It gave our channel partners the ability to increase ARPU, whilst retaining the control of the customer experience end-to-end.

We helped the channel to benefit from the rise in demand for white label internet connectivity from DSL to fibre and leased circuits. We are ready to do this again with mobile data.

The Mobile Data Opportunity

Mobile data has, until recently, been slow, unreliable and expensive. There is an issue with ‘bill shock’, as users regularly go over their allowances and are unprepared for the high cost of overages.

Without tools to manage large estates of SIMs and prevent or manage over-use, resellers have felt helpless and vulnerable. Many have supplied mobile data only when requested to do so by customers and many have introduced them to a carrier essentially giving up their customer.

Business users are consuming far more data than they used to due to remote working and the availability of mobile apps, such as Office 365 and Skype for Business. Other business applications have followed suit, creating for example business telephony apps, allowing users to make, forward and receive calls on their mobile as if it were their desk phone.

According to Gartner, there will be as many as 21 billion connected devices by 2020 generating additional mobile data traffic. SIM cards are being used inside more and more vertical devices, presenting challenges. Firstly, how can you manage a SIM card that is inserted into a device and thousands of miles away? Secondly how can you manage usage? We know there are high costs for going over data allowances on mobile phone contracts, the same applies in other devices.

What is a SIM only deal?
A SIM only deal provides a package of minutes, texts and mobile data for a monthly cost, much the same as a traditional mobile phone contract. The difference is that you don’t get a new handset; you only get the SIM card.

I have worked in both micro and chemistry laboratories in my early career. What strikes me when you first walk into a laboratory is the high levels of security followed by the sterile and orderly environment. Each lab is set up to achieve efficient processing and accurate results. Practices and processes are carefully carried out with controls and every bench prepared for the next process, which is carefully carried out to exact measurements and timings.

Installation teams at UK Glaziers have mobile phones to keep in touch with the office and each other when fitting fixed rooflights. They are moving to JolaMobile Vodafone SIM only contracts for the following reasons:

On a building site having the latest smart phone is less important than having something that works and can survive the environment, however builders still need a good and cost effective mobile service.

Instead of upgrading at the end of their mobile contract they are looking to reduce the bill, now the original handsets have been paid for, and not sign another contract term.

1. Find out when you are out of contract with your existing provider.

2. Check your staff are happy with the phones they have. 

3. Review your phone bill. E.g. How much data is each person using? 

4. Do your research on the best deal for your business.

5. Contact your existing supplier to cancel and request your PAC codes.