Pakistan Planning to Start Local Manufacturing of SIMs

Pakistan is planning to start local manufacturing of SIMs and smart cards to protect the country from the threat of cyber-attacks, create employment opportunities and save precious foreign exchange.

Official documents, available with ProPakistani, revealed that local physical SIM manufacturers may establish eSIM management platforms and offer eSIM products to cellular mobile operators (CMOs) via ‘Platform as a Service.’

Digital transformation and the creation of an enabling ecosystem is one of the key objectives of the government of Pakistan, and in the era of digital services, SIMs and smart cards assume pivotal importance. The local manufacturing of SIMs will massively benefit the economy as millions of SIMs are currently imported.

According to the documents, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) fully supports the requisite role of performing authorization, compliance, and adoption of SIM card manufacturing in the telecom sector.

The local SIM and smart card manufacturing industry has already become the principal sector in many national economies and is playing an important role in creating sustainable economic growth.

Analyzed from a business perspective, it will boost the economy by creating employment opportunities, generating tax income, and saving precious foreign exchange. Moreover, it will add another practical dimension for academia vis-à-vis research and development.

With the evolution of SIM technology, manufacturers worldwide have come up with new variants of SIMs such as Embedded SIM (eSIM), Soft SIM, and Integrated SIM (iSIM), among others. All these variants are worthy substitutes for a physical SIM card. As such, local physical SIM manufacturers may establish eSIM management platforms and offer eSIM products to CMOs.