In Brief: Micron, Tata Communications partner for world’s first cloud-based eSIM; Lendingkart strengthens C-suite

Tata Communications has partnered with Micron Technology to develop the world’s first cloud-based eSIM. The virtual subscriber identity module will replace conventional physical SIM cards and serve as a scalable cellular-enabled connectivity solution to simplify and accelerate the deployment of internet of things (IoT) devices around the world, the companies said in a statement. As part of the collaboration, Micron will use its Authenta Key Management Service to enable the eSIM, while Tata Communications will leverage that technology and its MOVE Global IoT solution to offer a pervasive solution for zero-touch onboarding of connected IoT devices to cloud services across 200 countries and territories. The solution is slated to launch in 2021 and is currently being demonstrated at the ongoing Micron and Tata Communications IoT Security Conference.

Lendingkart Strengthens its C-Suite with three senior appointments

Lendingkart Technologies, which provides business loans to MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises), has strengthened its leadership team with three new senior appointments - Giridhar Yasa as chief technology officer, Mahesh Parashar as chief of collections, and Sameer Nagpal as chief of revenue operations and disbursement. The company said in a statement that Yasa, Flipkart’s former technology leader, brings more than 20 years of experience in cloud architectures, large scale distributed systems, virtualization, systems and storage software, and consumer internet systems. Meanwhile, Parashar joins from Aditya Birla Finance with over 17 years of experience in banking and financial services and Nagpal comes from Airtel Payments Bank with over 20 years of experience in FMCG, telecom, banking, and fin-tech domains.

InsuranceDekho launches ‘ID Edge’ to help individual insurance partners sell more policies

Girnar Insurance Brokers, the company behind InsuranceDekho insurtech platform, has launched ‘ID Edge’ mobile app to let individuals, including insurance partners, sell policies through its seller platform. The app, according to a statement from the Jaipur-headquartered company, will improve the performance and operational efficiency of thousands of insurance partners, helping them reach a wider audience, while also generating employment at the same time. Partners can use the app to keep a track of their business and leads or to fulfill inspections, issue policies, raise service requests and track upcoming renewals, the company said. InsuranceDekho currently has 20,000 insurance partners, and with widespread ID Edge adoption, it hopes to reach 1 lakh.

Qualcomm rolls out immersive home platforms for next-gen mesh routers

Chipmaker Qualcomm Technologies has unveiled four Immersive Home platforms, Home 318, Home 316, Home 216, and Home 214, to improve the wireless performance of Wi-Fi 5, Wi-Fi 6, and Wi-Fi 6E mesh routers. The 210 series of the Home platform is a dual-band solution (2.4GHz and 5GHz) that aims to increase the number of devices that could connect to a Wi-Fi 5 or Wi-Fi 6 router at the same time, the overall throughput and range with up to 6 spatial streams and 5.4Gbps peak speed. Meanwhile, the 310 series is a more powerful solution that makes use of all three bands of spectrum to support IoT-class devices (2.4GHz), legacy media devices (5GHz), and enable congestion-relieving migration of node-to-node backhaul traffic from 5GHz to the 6GHz band, while ensuring the network is prepared to support devices supporting emerging 6GHz applications such as VR, live video sharing, streaming, and real-time gaming. This series supports up to 8 spatial streams and peak speed up to 7.8Gbps.