Dynamic carrier switching

A method, implemented by a server computer system comprising:

• collecting, by the server computer system, carrier-specific performance characteristics for each of a plurality of wireless carriers and carrier-specific cost characteristics for each of the plurality of wireless carriers;
• collecting, by the server computer system, device-specific performance characteristics pertaining to wireless carrier usage by a user device, the device-specific performance characteristics comprising network characteristics at a plurality of prior locations of the user device;
• creating, by the server computer system, a plurality of rules for the user device based on the carrier-specific performance characteristics, the device-specific performance characteristics, and the carrier-specific cost characteristics, each of the plurality of rules indicating a switch by the user device from a current wireless carrier to a different wireless carrier when one or more conditions of a corresponding rule are satisfied, wherein the switch causes a home network of the user device to change to the different wireless carrier based on a subscriber identity module (SIM) profile that defines a new unique international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associated with the different wireless carrier;
• and
• storing the plurality of rules in a rules data store, wherein the server computer system sends a message to the user device while the user device is connected to the current wireless carrier, the message indicating a switch to the different wireless carrier and comprising the SIM profile and a modem profile for the different wireless carrier.

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations comprising:

• detecting, by the processing system, a condition pertaining to a switch of a user device from a first wireless carrier to a second wireless carrier while the user device is connected to the first wireless carrier;
• obtaining, by the processing system, a subscriber identity module (SIM) profile and a modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier, the SIM profile defining a new unique international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associated with the second wireless carrier that will replace a current IMSI associated with the first wireless carrier;
• reprogramming a modem of the user device using the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier, wherein the reprogramming causes a home network of the user device to switch from the first wireless carrier to the second wireless carrier;
• and
• establishing a network connection for the user device using the SIM profile and the modem profile associated with the second wireless carrier.

A server computing system comprising:

• a memory;
• a processor, coupled to the memory;
• and
• a rule server, executed from the memory by the processor, to:
• detect a condition associated with a switch of a home network from a current wireless carrier to a specified wireless carrier, the condition pertaining to a user device;
• and
• in response to detecting the condition associated with the switch,
• send a message to the user device to indicate the switch to the specified wireless carrier while the user device is connected to the current wireless carrier;
• and
• send a device profile for the specified wireless carrier to the user device, the device profile comprising a subscriber identity module (SIM) profile and a modem profile for the specified wireless carrier, the SIM profile defining a new unique international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) associated with the specified wireless carrier that will replace a current IMSI associated with the current wireless carrier.