How to Determine Whether a Device Contains a Super SIM

Learn how to check whether a device contains a Super SIM

You need to set the Access Point Name (APN) that an IoT device's cellular modem will use for Internet connectivity. If all of your devices contain Super SIMs, this is straightforward: use the default APN super, or, to reduce latency in certain geographies, one of the distributed breakout APNs.

However, if your products contain SIMs from a variety of suppliers, including KORE, your code will first need to check which SIM its host device contains so that it can set the appropriate APN for that SIM. Typically, to detect SIM type you might read back the SIM's IMSI.

One of the key advantages of Super SIM is that it includes multiple IMSIs to enable switching between different local networks in the territory in which the host device is operating.

This means you should never use the current IMSI to determine whether a device contains a Super SIM. The IMSI reported by a Super SIM at any given time can and very likely will change. Instead, use the methods outlined below. The first is the recommended one, but the second may also be used.

For more detailed guidance on setting the APN, particularly for devices with integrated modules, refer to our APN configuration page.

Method 1: Use the SIM's ICCID

As of March 2025, we are in the process of changing the ICCID prefix on newly manufactured Super SIMs. We expect to begin shipping SIMs with the new prefix as early as July 1, 2025. Ensure any logic in your devices or in your applications account for both the current and future ICCID prefixes. Learn more about how to plan for this and other changes to our hardware here.

Every Super SIM, like all physical SIMs and eSIM profiles, has a unique identifier called an Integrated Circuit Card Identifier (ICCID). Once a SIM is produced with its ICCID, that value cannot change. It will always have that ICCID.

Super SIM ICCIDs can have the following prefixes:

• 8988307

• 8988323 [α]

• 8910392 [β]

[α] - Only the first 25,000 Super SIMs produced as part of a pilot batch in 2020 use this ICCID prefix. If you are a new user of Super SIM, you can likely safely ignore this prefix if you wish to.

[β] - This new ICCID prefix will be introduced in 2025. All newly produced Super SIMs will have the 8910392 prefix going forward. Note that the first 6 characters (891039) indicate that the ICCID was issued by KORE, and other KORE SIMs may have this same prefix. The next character — the "2" — can be used to uniquely identify Super SIMs. Ensure that your device or application logic properly distinguishes Super SIM from other KORE SIMs.

Ensure your devices or applications distinguish Super SIMs from other KORE SIMs whose ICCID may start with the same 6 characters (891039). Use the first 7 characters (8910392) — including the "2" — to properly identify Super SIMs.

Your device can read the installed SIM's ICCID via your cellular module. Modules generally use this command:

AT+CCID

Its response will be:

+CCID: <SIM_ICCID>

Some modules offer alternative commands for displaying the SIM's ICCID. For example, the Quectel modules use AT+QCCID; this yields the response +QCCID: <SIM_ICCID>.

However, you retrieve the SIM's ICCID and match its first seven digits against the ICCID prefixes above to determine if it is a Super SIM.

Method 2: Use the SIM's SPN

As of March 2025, we are in the process of changing the service provider name (SPN) on newly manufactured Super SIMs. We expect to begin shipping SIMs with the SPN value as early as July 1, 2025. Ensure any logic in your devices or in your applications account for both the current and future SPN values if you used. Learn more about how to plan for this and other changes to our hardware here.

The service provider name (SPN) is a value that can be read from the SIM. It is configured by the issuing connectivity provider (i.e., KORE). This is what controls what is displayed as the carrier name on handsets but can be used by your devices to automatically configure it such as setting the access point name (APN).

Super SIMs can have either of these SPN values:

• Twilio [α]

• KORE Super SIM [β]

[α] - Super SIM, along with some other products and the teams that develop and operate them, was acquired from Twilio in June 2023. We have continued to use this SPN to minimize the impact on our existing customers while we complete the decoupling of Super SIM's infrastructure from Twilio. A new SPN along with a new ICCID prefix, both of which reference KORE, is being introduced in 2025. Already produced SIMs with the 8988307 ICCID prefix will continue to use Twilio as the SPN. You can learn more about the Twilio IoT acquisition and migration guides to help you plan for changes in our Twilio IoT Acquisition section.

[β] - This new SPN value will be introduced in 2025. New SIMs produced with the 8910392 ICCID prefix will use KORE Super SIM as the SPN.

If you have firmware that supports SIMs from multiple providers, there may be a lookup table within the firmware to set the APN based on the SPN, such as that used by Android. If this is the case, ensure you have multiple entries to account for both Super SIM SPNs.

From your device, you can read the service provider name (SPN) of the installed SIM via the cellular modem. Issue the AT+CRSM command with the following parameters to retrieve the SPN:

AT+CRSM=176,28486,0,0,17

If the device's SIM is a Super SIM with Twilio as the SPN, this command will return:

+CRSM: 144,0,"005477696C696FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF"

If the device's SIM is a Super SIM with KORE Super SIM as the SPN, this command will return:

+CRSM: 144,0,"004B4F52452053757065722053494DFFFF"

The third, textual field provides the SPN. Each pair of characters is a hexadecimal character code. To extract the SPN, ignore the first pair of characters (00) and read up to the first FF. Now convert each hex pair to an Ascii character.

Here's how it decodes to Twilio:

Hex	Ascii
54	T
77	w
69	i
6C	l
69	i
6F	o

And here's how it decodes to KORE Super SIM:

Hex	Ascii
4B	K
4F	O
52	R
45	E
20	Space
53	S
75	u
70	p
65	e
72	r
20	Space
53	S
49	I
4D	M

You can shortcut this process by comparing the third field to the expected string values: 005477696C696FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF or 004B4F52452053757065722053494DFFFF. If the strings match, your code knows it is using a Super SIM and can issue the APN super.

If you'd like to learn more about the fields included in the initial AT+CSRM command and how the response is formatted, check out section 4.2.12 of the ETSI UMTS Specification. For example, the 176 in the command indicates a binary read command; the 28486 indicates that we want to receive the SPN.