Agreement provides access to innovative standards-based eSIM technologies for IoT deployments across EMEA
Brussels, Belgium, 3 March 2026 – Avnet Silica, an Avnet company (NASDAQ: AVT), today announced the signing of a strategic product and services agreement with Thales, a global leader in advanced technologies for the cyber and digital sectors. This new agreement covers Thales’ eSIM solutions compliant with GSMA SGP.22 and SGP.32 standards, including both a standalone eSIM component and an integrated offer combining the eSIM with its remote management services. Together, Thales and Avnet Silica are able to deliver a unique turnkey solution to industrial partners, offering a single product, ready to be deployed in large-scale on the field with an embedded connectivity, provided by Avnet Silica partners.
As large-scale IoT and industrial connectivity deployments continue to accelerate, engineering teams face growing security, remote subscription management, and regulatory compliance challenges. Meeting these demands requires connectivity solutions that are secure by design, standards-based, and capable of supporting large deployments across diverse operating environments.
Through this agreement, Avnet Silica expands its secure and standards-compliant connectivity portfolio by providing industrial and IoT customers across EMEA with access to Thales’ proven GSMA certified eSIM solutions. Thales’ SGP.32 eSIM technology is designed for massive IoT deployments, supporting simplified remote provisioning and large-scale device management, while SGP.22 suits consumer and hybrid use cases where widely adopted remote SIM provisioning is required. Together, both options provide a flexible, standards-compliant foundation for connected products operating across long lifecycles and multiple regulatory regions.
Under this agreement, Avnet Silica and Thales are proactively collaborating to deliver a simplified, ready-to-deploy solution compatible with any IoT device. Avnet Silica is offering a complete, ready-to-use solution based on Thales’ SGP.32-compliant eSIM technology. This pre-validated end-to-end testing and deployment eliminates complex integration steps, allowing immediate adoption across Europe in key sectors such as industrial automation, smart metering, digital health, and critical infrastructure.
“The growth of highly distributed IoT at scale places unprecedented demands on connectivity security, manageability, and compliance,” said Thomas Foj, Vice President Supplier Management, Solutions and Digitalization EMEA, Avnet Silica. “By partnering with Thales, we are strengthening our ability to help engineering teams deploy secure, standards-based eSIM solutions that reduce complexity and support reliable operation across global deployments.”
“We are proud to partner with Avnet Silica to bring unity to a fragmented IoT market. Our vision is to drastically simplify how enterprises connect the world. With the new SGP.32 standard, we are eliminating the complexity of managing massive device fleets. Together, we provide the ability to scale, empowering customers to orchestrate their deployment with total confidence. This is how we build a secure foundation that is future-proof,” said Guillaume Lafaix, VP Connectivity Solutions and Embedded Products at Thales
For additional information on Avnet Silica’s connectivity portfolio and how Thales’ innovative eSIM solutions can accelerate time to market while supporting secure, scalable, and resilient connectivity deployments, please visit this link.
About Avnet Silica
Avnet Silica is the European semiconductor specialist division of Avnet, one of the leading global technology distributors, and acts as the smart connection between customers and suppliers. The distributor simplifies complexity by providing creative solutions, technology and logistics support. Avnet Silica is a partner of leading semiconductor manufacturers and innovative solution providers over many years. With a team of more than 200 application engineers and technical specialists, Avnet Silica supports projects all the way from the idea to the concept to production. Avnet Silica is a regional business unit of Avnet, (NASDAQ: AVT) with European headquarters in Belgium (Avnet Europe BV). For more information, visit www.avnet-silica.com
About Avnet
As a leading global technology distributor and solutions provider, Avnet has served customers’ evolving needs for more than a century. Through regional and specialized businesses around the world, we support customers and suppliers at every stage of the product lifecycle. We help companies adapt to change and accelerate the design and supply stages of product development. With a unique viewpoint from the center of the technology supply chain, Avnet is a trusted partner that solves complex design and supply chain issues so customers can realize revenue faster. Learn more about Avnet at www.avnet.com.
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