Disclaimer: I work in telecommunications, but not at an operator. The operators have resisted this actually, as they fear it will bring more competition for th

Disclaimer: I work in telecommunications, but not at an operator. The operators have resisted this actually, as they fear it will bring more competition for them by making switching operators easier. To lock the device, they don't need this standard: they could solder a SIM chip today, no need for any new standard. The eUICC (embedded UICC) standard is required when you want both a soldered SIM AND the ability to switch operators during the life of the device. There you need a standard scheme and added complexity to enable this, and this is what's discussed here. The operators have (and are still) resisting this for smartphones / high value devices. The reason eUICC is getting traction is the IoT. For low cost devices a removable SIM is just not manageable: - too expensive - too fragile (think vibrations, harsh environment) - too large for wearables So they accepted eUICC to be more competitive for IoT, and try to manage the risk it's used for big devices to increase competition (think Apple SIM, but soldered). Look in the article section "Stakeholder advantages in an e-SIM environment", they capture very well who gains what with eUICC.