CommsCloud, Africa’s IoT connectivity expert, has launched Cloud Connect SIMs to address patchy coverage and costly roaming for pan-African companies in partnership with floLIVE.
floLIVE provides cloud-based and centrally managed local connectivity for any device and any use case. The combination of SIMs and purpose-built IoT network keeps telemetry devices, dashcams, push-to-talk radios, and cargo monitoring solutions online as vehicles cross borders, at 70% lower cost than roaming.
The SIMs are believed to be the first multi-International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) connectivity solution engineered with multiple Core Networks on a single SIM, specifically to overcome the complexities of African logistics. IMSIs are unique, globally recognised numbers that are stored on a SIM card to identify a specific mobile subscriber. Many providers rely on a single IMSI profile with a single core network, or roaming agreements for cross-border connectivity.
Peter Walsh, CEO of CommsCloud: “For African fleets and logistics companies, downtime isn’t just an inconvenience – it’s lost revenue and a real safety risk. The costs of interrupted connectivity go beyond dollars – they include reputational damage, insurance disputes, and sometimes even loss of life and public safety issues. Without resilient connectivity, Africa won’t fully benefit from IoT and smart logistics.”
To keep the systems in their trucks connected across borders, fleet and logistics firms have turned to many different solutions. These include using multiple SIMs in the same device, carrying high roaming costs, building expensive satellite functionality into the device, or accepting that there are going to be “black holes” or even countries where coverage is problematic.
None of these solutions typically maintain seamless communications or provide high uptime for IoT telemetry (like vehicle trackers), operational planning and execution requirements and/or provide reliable dashcam coverage as vehicles cross regions.
“A vehicle might go into Zimbabwe using a dual SIM with access to one national network and one global network, but if either of those core networks goes down in the region it provides coverage for, the vehicle is offline,” Walsh adds.
Cloud Connect SIMs features multiple IMSI profiles, each with its own core networks and commercial agreements across the region – so if one network goes down, the SIMs automatically failover to another.
The SIMs also feature global coverage and break out to local networks as needed. This keeps connections lightning-fast, more reliable, and ensures data stays within the country’s borders, in line with data compliance requirements.
“Many IoT deployments fail due to firmware misconfiguration or incompatible SIM settings. We focus on co‑engineering with OEMs, providing settings libraries and checklists, which significantly improves uptime and reduces support related issues.
“There are areas across Africa where coverage is sparse and connectivity is 2G only (or non-existent, dependent on the roaming partner). Understanding these corridors allows us to build solutions that do not experience downtime or coverage issues.”
Cloud Connect offers transparent pricing, with a pay-as-you-consume model for telemetry and tiered bundles for high data volume plans and no roaming lock-ins, he says. The solution is low maintenance, has low support requirements, and is able to scale rapidly.
Walsh reports that one major tracking firm in South Africa with 2,000 SIMs has been trialling Cloud Connect for four months, across telemetry and dashcam solutions in Southern Africa with no downtime and no support tickets.
“For over a decade, we’ve been told IoT will transform Africa, yet the hype hasn’t matched reality. Without resilient uptime at its foundation, the entire IoT ecosystem fails. IoT in Africa succeeds when we build infrastructure that can survive Africa’s scale and complexity, and Cloud Connect has been designed to be a key component of that,” Walsh concludes.