Brazilian telecommunications firm Embratel has chosen Gemalto to provide electronic SIM and eSIM management solutions for its connected car efforts.

In a statement announcing the partnership, the companies cited a Statista market forecast predicting that the market penetration of connected car technology in Latin America will grow from 3.3 percent last year to 12.5 percent in 2021. That represents a significant opportunity for the firms to offer eSIM solutions allowing vehicles to access mobile network services. To that end, Gemalto will offer both eSIM technology and its On-Demand Connectivity platform, which allows the cellular subscriptions of eSIM devices to be activated, changed, and cancelled without the need to replace the physical SIM card.

Commenting on the partnership, Embratel IoT Business Director Ney Acyr Rodrigues emphasized that Gemalto’s ODC platform “is the first in the world to be certified by the GSMA and it was Embratel’s clear preferred choice to solve connectivity management challenges and help drive connected car and new mobility services growth throughout the region.” Rodrigues added that the solution will help Embratel “to realize new types of revenue as we shift from mobile operator to mobility service provider.”

News of the partnership comes soon after Gemalto announced a similar arrangement with Korea Telecom, which will also use ODC with its GiGA drive connected car platform. The partnerships illustrate a strengthening position for Gemalto in the emerging connected car and smart car markets as eSIM technology finds its way into the automotive sector.