Does iBASIS eSIM support NB-IoT in Germany?

[Avinash Chaudhari]

Hello all,

I am developing an application based on NB-IoT using nRF9160-DK and I am doubtful about the iBASIS network in Germany and want to know if it is possible to use NB-IoT in the region of baden-württemberg(Germany).

What all possible options are there if iBASIS does not provide the required NB-IoT support?

Thank you in advance for your replies. Kindly let me know how to move forward with the above problem.

[Achim Kraus]

In south Germany I'm currently only able to connect to O2 (26203) using NB-IoT. 

Unfortunately, O2 seems to have still issues with some base stations and NB-IoT, see High Latency in NB-IoT communication using Telefonica DE

[Avinash Chaudhari]

Thank you for the response. So according to this post High Latency in NB-IoT communication using Telefonica DE, we have lower latency with Deutsche Telekom(26201) compared to O2(26203).

But I guess you mentioned that you were only able to connect to O2(26203) using Nb-IoT. Did you try using Vodafone or deutsch telekom or any other provider and how was your experience working with different operators?

[Avinash Chaudhari]

Thank you for the response and it was good to know, how other operators perform working with Nb-IoT.

[Achim Kraus]

Just to clarify:

All three German providers, Telekom 26201, Vodafone 26202 and O2 26203 offer LTE-M and NB-IoT. It depends on your SIM card, if the modem is allowed to register. The issues of O2 and NB-IoT maybe just temporary ones, even if I don't know, how long that update will take.

[Achim Kraus]

I have to add:

I didn't test with the eSIM, just with the iBASIS (nano) SIM provided with the DK or Thingy:91.

[Avinash Chaudhari]

Thank you for the clarification and providing information so can we work with the iBASIS(nano) SIM for NB-IoT? Because the website says that iBASIS does not cover NB-IoT network in Germany. And for this purpose we have to use the local network provider SIM network while working with NB-IoT.

[Achim Kraus]

I guess, only iBASIS sales is really able to answer that question.

I tested it today with one of the iBASIS SIM cards. The connectivity I got is that written above. I'm also located in BaWü (near Stuttgart).

iBASIS is not the only global SIM card provider.  You will find a lot. Just a small subset in alphabetic order:

1nce, Emnify, FloLive, TruPhone

Also some network operators have SIM cards with coverage for quite a lot countries, see Telekom or Vodafone.

[Avinash Chaudhari]

Thank you for the Information and detailed analysis regarding different Operators.