rSIM in Action: Real-World Outage Detection Explained

Understanding Real Network Failures

Not all network failures present as clear, large-scale outages. Many develop as partial or intermittent issues that are harder to detect and resolve. In these situations, devices may remain attached to the network and continue to show signal, while the data session becomes unstable or stops passing traffic altogether.

For the end user, the outcome is the same. The service is no longer working as expected, even though it may still appear connected. These types of failures often sit upstream and beyond the radio layer and do not always trigger an obvious loss of service.

Common examples of these failures include:

• Configuration or change-related errors during maintenance or upgrades

• Software or firmware faults affecting core network functions

• Signalling surges and congestion that prevent stable session establishment

• Routing, transport, or core service issues that interrupt data flow

• Power or hardware failures affecting sites or network infrastructure

• Backhaul and fibre disruption, including failures in third-party infrastructure

A Step-by-Step View of a Real Outage

Using live deployment and monitoring data, it is possible to break down the sequence of events during a recent network outage and examine how rSIM responds at each stage.

At the outset, devices were operating normally on the primary network. As designed, rSIM was continuously testing the connection in the background, verifying that data was passing correctly.

Because rSIM actively validates the data and voice connection, in this live case, it was able to identify that the data path was no longer performing as expected. Once the issue was confirmed, the SIM initiated a switch to its secondary operator profile, which is hosted on an entirely separate core network.

This transition took place within minutes and did not require any input from the device or external systems. Once the switch was complete, data transmission resumed and service continuity was maintained.

Key Findings from the Real Deployment Data

This outage provides a clear view of how connectivity behaves in real-world conditions, and where resilience makes a measurable difference. With the rSIM® network downtime can be reduced from hours to minutes. This example illustrates how a 2.5-hour period of no connectivity on a normal SIM was reduced to minutes using the rSIM®:

Not all connectivity issues appear as major outages. Many occur as short or intermittent failures that are difficult to detect but still disrupt service.

This data shows that even small to medium periods of instability can add up to meaningful downtime. By continuously validating the connection and responding in real time, rSIM ensures that these issues are addressed before they impact the end user.