Onomondo has done something most SGP.32 connectivity providers have quietly avoided: it has built its own eIM, the eSIM IoT Remote Manager, and it says you can use it without buying Onomondo connectivity at all. On a site that has argued at length that SGP.32 did not end operator lock-in but simply moved it, that claim deserves a close read. This is a full profile of Onomondo’s SGP.32 stack, its eSIM, its new eIM, the company behind it, and where it actually sits on the lock-in map.
Onomondo and SGP.32 at a glance
| Company | Onomondo ApS, headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark; launched in 2018 |
| What it is | An IoT connectivity provider that built and owns its own cloud-native core network |
| Coverage | One non-steered profile reaching 680+ networks across 180+ countries |
| SGP.32 stack | eUICC SIMs, eSIM profiles, and, new in September 2026, its own eIM |
| Also | SoftSIM, a software-only IoT SIM integrated into Quectel cellular modules |
| eIM stance | Fully configurable; usable with Onomondo connectivity or entirely without it |
| Key people | Rasmus Hedelund Jensen (CEO); Henrik Aagaard (CTO) and Michael Freundt Karlsen (co-founders) |
| Notable partners | Kigen, Syniverse, Quectel; founder of the eSIM IoT Alliance |
| Customers | Maersk, Carlsberg, Donkey Republic, DOJO, Connected Cars |
| Lock it targets | The eIM control plane, lock number one, as the challenger rather than the embodiment |
The news: Onomondo’s own SGP.32 eIM
On 16 September 2026 Onomondo launched its own eIM, the component that decides which eSIM profiles sit on a deployed device and swaps them over the air. In SGP.32 the eIM is effectively the remote control for a fleet of eSIMs: it downloads, enables, disables and deletes profiles without anyone touching the hardware. What sets Onomondo’s apart is the promise that it can be pointed at other providers, not only at Onomondo. That completes a self-built, end-to-end SGP.32 stack of eUICC SIMs, eSIM profiles and now the manager that controls them.
An eIM shouldn’t become the new lock-in point. We have built ours so customers can use it with Onomondo connectivity or without us.
Henrik Aagaard, CTO and co-founder, Onomondo
We covered the launch itself as news over on IoT Portal. If you want the eIM explained from the ground up, before reading why Onomondo’s version matters, start with what an eSIM IoT Remote Manager actually does.
Why an open eIM matters on this site
Regular readers know the argument we keep coming back to: SGP.32 did not end lock-in, it moved it. The standard dissolves the old operator-and-SIM lock, then relocates it to four stickier places. The first, and the stickiest, is the eIM control plane. SGP.32 only makes remote reconfiguration mandatory for the eUICC, not for the eIM, so whoever controls a fleet’s eIM can quietly become the part a customer cannot replace.
Onomondo is the clearest example yet of a vendor building against that first lock rather than into it. A configurable eIM that runs independently of its own connectivity is a direct answer to the eIM-control-plane problem. Onomondo even maintains an open-source eIM codebase on GitHub, an early reference build against the standard rather than the productised commercial service, but a strong signal of intent all the same. Whether that openness holds at commercial scale is the question the rest of this profile works through.
How Onomondo’s eSIM works
Onomondo’s eSIM is built on eUICC SIMs that ship preloaded at the factory with an Onomondo connectivity profile, so devices arrive already active. Because that profile runs on a core network Onomondo built and owns, it is non-steered: one profile reaches 680+ networks across 180+ countries, and every device attaches to the strongest signal in range rather than clinging to a preferred partner. For a great many fleets, that single profile is the whole job, and SGP.32 never has to come into it.
Where SGP.32 does matter is later in the device’s life. Using the eIM, other operator profiles can be downloaded and switched over the air, so a fleet can change network without a SIM swap or a site visit. The underlying machinery is the familiar SGP.32 triplet: the eUICC on the device, the profile it carries, and the eIM that manages them, with the IPA on the device talking to an SM-DP+ to fetch profiles. For the standards detail, see our SGP.32 architecture explainer and the eUICC primer.
Onomondo also offers SoftSIM, a fully software-based IoT SIM that lives in the modem itself, integrated into Quectel modules, so there is no physical SIM at all. It is a separate track from SGP.32, but part of the same thesis: keep connectivity soft, downloadable and swappable rather than welded to a piece of plastic.
The four-lock test: where Onomondo actually stands
The honest way to profile any SGP.32 vendor is to hold it against all four locks, not just the one it markets against. Here is how Onomondo maps.
Onomondo attacks the stickiest lock, the eIM, but three of the four remain: “freedom to choose” still runs through Kigen’s silicon and an Onomondo bootstrap profile.
| The lock | Who usually embodies it | Onomondo’s position |
|---|---|---|
| The eIM control plane | Most providers, by omission | Attacks it head-on: configurable, open, usable without Onomondo connectivity |
| The eUICC OS, fixed at manufacture | Kigen | Still applies: Onomondo uses SAS-certified eUICCs, and the eUICC OS is chosen on the production line |
| The bootstrap profile | 1GLOBAL | Devices ship with an Onomondo bootstrap profile: convenient, but an Onomondo dependency from day zero |
| Certified triplet interoperability | The standard itself | Has joined independent public interop tests and switched live profiles; commercial interop at scale is still maturing |
The takeaway is not that Onomondo is playing a marketing game. It is that even a genuinely open eIM only removes one lock. Onomondo attacks the stickiest one hard and deserves credit for it, but “freedom to choose” still runs through Kigen’s silicon, still starts on an Onomondo bootstrap profile, and still depends on the whole certified triplet interoperating in practice, not just on paper. The lock does not vanish. It gets smaller, and it moves to places Onomondo has less control over. See the full landscape for where every player sits, and eIM portability for whether an eIM can actually be moved at all.
Onomondo the company: bio and services
Onomondo launched in 2018 and is headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, with roughly a hundred staff. It has raised in the region of $30m across several rounds from investors including Verdane, Maersk Growth and Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund, the Maersk connection being notable given Maersk is also a flagship customer. The company is led by CEO Rasmus Hedelund Jensen, who joined from document-automation firm Templafy and brings earlier telecoms experience from TDC; co-founders Henrik Aagaard (CTO) and Michael Freundt Karlsen remain closely involved, with Aagaard the public voice on SGP.32.
What separates Onomondo from most IoT connectivity brands is that it built and owns its core network rather than reselling someone else’s. That cloud-native core is what unifies 680+ networks into a single non-steered home network, and it is why Onomondo can credibly control the whole stack from SIM to eIM. On top of it sit the tools the company is known for: real-time diagnostics and troubleshooting, live traffic insights, simple data routing, direct cloud integrations and a single API, all aimed at letting a small team find and fix connectivity problems in minutes rather than days.
The product range now spans global IoT SIMs, SoftSIM, the eUICC and SGP.32 eSIM, and the new eIM. Typical deployments are in logistics and maritime (Maersk container tracking), automotive and EV charging, energy, and micromobility (Donkey Republic), with asset tracking a common thread throughout.
Onomondo’s market and positioning
In market terms, Onomondo has moved up the stack. It began as a connectivity provider and now offers a full SGP.32 line, eUICC, profiles and eIM, which makes it unusually vertically integrated among the challenger brands. Its sharpest positioning move is the eSIM IoT Alliance, which Onomondo convened to push a free, open-source, GSMA-compliant eSIM IoT platform. That is part brand strategy and part genuine differentiation: it plants Onomondo firmly as the openness champion of SGP.32, which is exactly the flag the new eIM is designed to fly.
It competes for IoT connectivity against the likes of emnify, 1NCE, Aeris, Soracom and Wireless Logic, and increasingly against the specialist SGP.32 stack-builders such as Eseye on orchestration and Kigen on eUICC hardware, the latter being a partner rather than a rival. Onomondo’s bet against all of them is simple: own the core network, open the eIM, and let customers prove the freedom for themselves. Its customer roll, Maersk, Carlsberg, Donkey Republic, DOJO and Connected Cars, is the evidence it points to that the model works at scale.
The verdict
Onomondo is the most convincing example so far of a vendor building against the eIM lock instead of into it, and the openness is real enough to credit rather than dismiss. But the freedom it sells still passes through Kigen’s silicon and starts on an Onomondo bootstrap profile, and the proof of any “use it without us” promise is in the commercial terms and the interop at scale, not the press release. If you are betting a ten-year fleet on Onomondo, ask to be shown the exit: who else can run the eIM, on what terms, and what it actually takes to move. Onomondo, more than most, should be able to answer without flinching. Make it.
Onomondo SGP.32 FAQ
What is Onomondo’s eIM?
It is Onomondo’s own eSIM IoT Remote Manager, the SGP.32 component that controls which eSIM profiles are installed on a device and switches them over the air. Onomondo’s version is fully configurable and can be used with Onomondo connectivity or independently of it.
Can I use Onomondo’s eIM without Onomondo connectivity?
That is Onomondo’s headline claim. The eIM is designed to manage eSIM profiles whether or not the underlying connectivity is Onomondo’s, so a fleet can combine it with other providers. As always with SGP.32, the practical test is the commercial terms alongside the technical capability.
What is Onomondo’s SGP.32 eSIM?
An eUICC SIM preloaded with a non-steered Onomondo profile that reaches 680+ networks in 180+ countries, onto which other operator profiles can be downloaded and switched over the air under SGP.32.
Is Onomondo an MNO or an MVNO?
Neither in the usual sense. Onomondo runs its own cloud-native core network that aggregates hundreds of operator networks into one non-steered profile, which is closer to a full network operator on the core side than a simple reseller.
Who runs Onomondo, and who are its customers?
Onomondo is led by CEO Rasmus Hedelund Jensen, with co-founders Henrik Aagaard (CTO) and Michael Freundt Karlsen. Named customers include Maersk, Carlsberg, Donkey Republic, DOJO and Connected Cars.
Sources: Onomondo press release, 16 September 2026; Onomondo company materials; GSMA SGP.32. Company data drawn from public company profiles and may vary between sources. Written by Peter Green.