Teltonika RUTM30 eSIM Router and OV Roaming eSIM
Cold chain logistics depends on uninterrupted data and always-on connectivity. Pharmaceuticals, fresh produce, and other temperature-sensitive goods must be tracked in real time—especially when moving across international borders. For logistics providers, achieving this level of visibility across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa requires a robust, scalable connectivity solution.
The following case study, built around a typical cold chain operator — FrostSpan Logistics — reflects common challenges and solutions seen in the industry. Their setup combines the Teltonika RUTM30 industrial 5G router with a roaming eSIM from OV or Manx.
Business Background: FrostSpan Logistics
FrostSpan Logistics is a mid-sized UK-based company specializing in pharmaceutical cold chain transport across Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. Their fleet includes 150 refrigerated trailers, each equipped with temperature sensors, door sensors, and GPS modules. This modeled scenario highlights the kind of connectivity issues faced by many operators, including:
- Loss of telemetry data in roaming zones
- Delayed alerts for temperature excursions
- Complex multi-SIM management across different countries
To resolve these issues, FrostSpan implemented a solution built around the Teltonika RUTM30 paired with a roaming eSIM from OV (Manx Telecom).
Why the RUTM30 with Roaming eSIM?
FrostSpan evaluated several Teltonika routers (e.g., RUT200, RUT901, RUT906) before selecting the RUTM30, a compact industrial 5G router equipped with dual SIM slots, eSIM support, and automatic failover. It offered the precise balance of network redundancy, configurability, and scalability they needed.
Key reasons for choosing the RUTM30 with roaming eSIM:
- eSIM Flexibility: Built-in eSIM support allowed FrostSpan to load a multi-network roaming profile without handling physical SIMs, simplifying deployment and global provisioning.
- Automatic Network Failover: The router seamlessly switches between physical SIMs and the eSIM based on signal strength and availability, ensuring minimal downtime.
- 5G-Ready: Future-proofs the deployment while providing Cat 19 LTE fallback for current bandwidth needs.
- APN/Operator Configuration via WebUI: Enables intelligent SIM management and real-time network selection across regions.
- Integrated with RMS: Remote monitoring, diagnostics, firmware management, and rule-setting made possible through Teltonika’s Remote Management System.
- Compatibility with a range of IoT Antennas for optimum signal.
Lower-tier routers lacked this combined support for eSIM, remote SIM profile control, and high-availability routing. For FrostSpan, eSIM wasn’t just about reducing SIM swaps — it was central to creating a single-SKU, globally deployable connectivity model.
Benefits of Roaming eSIM from OV / Manx
FrostSpan replaced its patchwork of country-specific SIMs with a multi-region eSIM profile from OV (or Manx). This approach provided coverage across hundreds of global networks with minimal management overhead.
What the roaming eSIM delivered:
- Borderless Connectivity: No physical SIM swaps, even across 20+ countries
- Access to Multiple Networks per Country: Automatic switching based on signal quality
- Operational Simplicity: A single eSIM profile that can be pushed to all RUTM30 routers, simplifying inventory and fleet rollouts
- Observability: FrostSpan observed 99.8% uptime in their initial rollout across 18 countries
- Real-Time Responsiveness: Alerts for temperature excursions or trailer access events now reach dispatchers within seconds
The roaming eSIM fundamentally changed how FrostSpan approached logistics connectivity. Instead of working around SIM logistics, they embedded connectivity directly into their deployment model.
System Architecture
- Sensor Layer:
- Temperature, door, and GPS sensors
- Connected via Modbus RTU or Ethernet
- Connectivity Layer:
- RUTM30 routes data via 5G or LTE Cat 19
- Uses roaming eSIM or dual SIMs with automated failover
- VPN tunnel back to HQ for secure telemetry
- Cloud Layer:
- Data sent to Azure IoT Hub
- Dashboards powered by Power BI
- Alerting via custom monitoring stack integrated through RMS API
Operational Insights via RMS
Teltonika RMS gave FrostSpan real-time access to their routers, including:
- Connectivity logs for diagnostics and performance analytics
- Remote firmware and configuration management
- Profile switching and SIM failover logic configuration
- REST API for pulling health/status data into internal dashboards
Importantly, RMS does not send alerts itself — instead, it provides the hooks FrostSpan uses to drive alerts via their own monitoring platform.
Scalability and Future Plans
Although FrostSpan’s current use case doesn’t demand high data volumes, they are investing in the RUTM30’s 5G capability for several reasons:
- Coverage Trends: 5G availability is expanding, sometimes with better latency and reliability than 4G
- Device Longevity: Ensures trailers remain deployable for years without hardware refreshes
- Edge-Triggered Alerting: Using RutOS scripting, lightweight anomaly rules run locally on the router before triggering alerts upstream
- Zero-Touch Provisioning: Thanks to eSIM and RMS, new trailers can be activated and provisioned remotely, anywhere in the world
Conclusion
This modeled case study illustrates how the Teltonika RUTM30 paired with a roaming eSIM from OV or Manx enables scalable, borderless connectivity for cold chain logistics. FrostSpan Logistics cut downtime, reduced operational complexity, and built a connectivity model that is truly global and future-ready.
The eSIM wasn’t just an accessory—it was the cornerstone. Combined with RUTM30’s multi-network intelligence and Teltonika’s RMS platform, FrostSpan transformed connectivity from a pain point into a competitive advantage.