GlossaryRemote SIM provisioning
What is an SM-DP+?
SM-DP+ Subscription Manager Data Preparation +
The SM-DP+ is the server that prepares, protects and delivers eSIM profiles to devices. It is the GSMA-defined component that turns an operator subscription into an eSIM a phone can download and install.
The server
The SM-DP+ prepares, protects and delivers the profile
- 01Customer scans the QR code or taps the link
- 02The activation code names the SM-DP+ and the profile
- 03The LPA on the device authenticates and downloads
- 04The profile installs on the eUICC and can be enabled
With no activation code, the device asks an SM-DS which SM-DP+ is holding a profile for it.
The three jobs
The name describes the first job, but the component does three.
Prepare
Build a profile package from the operator’s subscription data, bound to one eUICC.
Protect
Encrypt it so only the target chip can install it, and nothing in between can read it.
Deliver
Hand it to the device over an authenticated session, when the device asks.
How a download actually happens
The customer scans a QR code or taps a link. That carries an activation code naming the SM-DP+ and the profile waiting there. The LPA (Local Profile Assistant) on the device contacts the server, authenticates, downloads the profile and installs it on the eUICC.
Where there is no activation code, the device asks an SM-DS (Subscription Manager Discovery Server) which SM-DP+ is holding something for it.
Where it sits in the specifications
Three GSMA remote SIM provisioning architectures, and the SM-DP+ belongs to one of them and is borrowed by another.
SGP.22 · Consumer
Where the SM-DP+ is defined. The LPA on the device downloads from it.
SGP.02 · Machine to machine
The older split: an SM-DP prepares, a separate SM-SR routes and delivers.
SGP.32 · IoT
Reuses the SGP.22 SM-DP+ and adds an eIM to decide what a device should do.
What it means for an MVNO
You will rarely operate an SM-DP+. Your carrier or eSIM provider does, and you integrate with it.
What you own is the moment of delivery: the QR code, the install screen, the retry when it fails, and the record of which profile went to which customer on which device.
Where Mindszi stands
Mindszi integrates the SM-DP+ your carrier or eSIM provider operates, and owns the delivery around it: activation codes, install, retries and the profile record against the subscriber.
SM-DP+ questions, answered
- What is SM-DP+?
- The SM-DP+ is the GSMA-defined server that prepares, protects and delivers eSIM profiles to devices. It builds a profile bound to one eUICC and hands it over when the device requests it.
- What does SM-DP+ stand for?
- Subscription Manager Data Preparation +. The plus distinguishes the consumer SGP.22 component, which also delivers the profile to the device, from the earlier SGP.02 SM-DP, which relied on a separate SM-SR to route it.
- What is the difference between SM-DP+ and SM-DS?
- The SM-DP+ holds and delivers the profile. The SM-DS is a discovery service: it tells a device which SM-DP+ has a profile waiting, in the cases where no activation code was given.
- Do you need your own SM-DP+ to sell eSIMs?
- No. Very few brands run one. You integrate with the SM-DP+ your carrier or eSIM provider operates, and own the customer-facing delivery around it.
Build on a platform that already speaks telco
Catalogue, billing, provisioning, activation and eSIM delivery on one core, run on automation. Book a demo and we will walk through the parts of it your business actually needs.