Does iot.cards use the Telefónica network?

Yes — Telefónica/Movistar is one of four underlying carriers iot.cards uses in Spain (alongside Vodafone, Orange and MásMóvil). The technical stack serving Telefónica traffic uses the same Kite layer that Telefónica Tech sells directly. The difference is that iot.cards combines that stack with the other national carriers and with melita.io for international, all under one contract and one invoice.

If iot.cards resells Kite, isn't it the same as Telefónica Kite?

No, they're commercially different products even if they share the underlying layer for Telefónica traffic. Telefónica Kite is the platform sold directly by Telefónica Tech, on Telefónica's network only, with enterprise flow. iot.cards is a multi-network MVNO that adds Vodafone, Orange, MásMóvil and melita.io to the stack, sells without an enterprise gate, and bills aggregated. If all you need is Telefónica and you already have a Telefónica Tech master agreement, going direct to Kite makes sense. If you need multi-network or don't want to go through enterprise sales, iot.cards fits better.

Does Telefónica have better Spain coverage than Vodafone/Orange/MásMóvil?

Telefónica/Movistar traditionally has the largest national footprint, especially in rural areas and indoor coverage thanks to its 800/900 MHz network. But that advantage isn't uniform: there are specific corridors and counties where Vodafone or Orange offer better signal. The advantage of multi-network isn't "one carrier is better than another" but rather "if Telefónica loses coverage in a specific location, the device automatically attaches to the next available network without intervention". For a large fleet distributed across Spain, that fallback eliminates the single point of failure.

Can I get static IP on Telefónica Kite without enterprise sales?

In practice, no — public static IP with whitelisting on Kite Platform is a module under enterprise contract with Telefónica Tech, which means account negotiation and volume commitment. iot.cards offers static IP (direct public, routed public with allowlist, or private via VPN) contractable from the first SIM as a per-SIM add-on, without going through enterprise sales. The underlying stack for Telefónica traffic is the same; the difference is commercial.

What about billing when you consolidate all carriers on iot.cards?

A single monthly Spanish invoice (Kore Logic SL, Spanish CIF B90463662) for actual pooled consumption, regardless of which network served each SIM at any moment. Compared to having a Telefónica Kite contract + a Vodafone contract + an international roaming solution, it dramatically simplifies financial admin. For companies closing books monthly, it matters.

What if I'm already a Telefónica Tech customer with Kite?

If your volume is high and your deployment is 100% Telefónica with deep integration into other Telefónica products (Cloud Connect, Kite Platform specifics, Movistar eSIM bundles), stay with Kite — there's no commercial reason to migrate. If what you value about Kite is Telefónica coverage but you want to add multi-network, a common path is to keep Kite for the legacy fleet and start new deployments on iot.cards (which also gives you Telefónica via the underlying Kite stack, without losing what you already have).

When should I NOT pick iot.cards?

If your organisation already has a consolidated enterprise agreement with Telefónica Tech, your volume is very large (>10,000 SIMs) and procurement wants everything centralised under Telefónica, going direct to Kite simplifies the relationship. If you need deep integration with Telefónica products that aren't just connectivity (IoT Cloud Connect, Telefónica's own vertical bundles), Kite fits better. If your case is 100% Telefónica with no need for fallback, you don't need multi-network and the multi-carrier management overhead doesn't pay off.

Commercial comparison

Telefónica Kite vs iot.cards

How to choose between Telefónica Kite (Telefónica Tech's IoT connectivity platform, single-carrier on Telefónica only) and iot.cards (multi-network IoT SIM that includes Telefónica/Movistar as one of four Spanish carriers). Both are solid products but solve different problems: Kite ties you to Telefónica; iot.cards gives you Telefónica + Vodafone + Orange + MásMóvil + 750 international networks under one contract. Honestly, iot.cards uses Kite as one of its underlying stacks — what changes is the commercial model and operational flexibility.

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Quick summary

Telefónica Kite fits if your deployment is 100% Telefónica/Movistar by procurement decision, you already have an enterprise agreement with Telefónica Tech, or you need native integration with Telefónica products (Movistar eSIM, IoT Cloud Connect, Kite Platform specifics). iot.cards is the reasonable choice if you need real multi-network failover (when Movistar drops, the device attaches to Vodafone, Orange or MásMóvil), if you want to contract SIMs without going through enterprise sales (from the first unit, no minimum volume), if you want a single aggregated invoice from one vendor covering all networks — including Telefónica — under one contract, or if your department doesn't want to lock into a single carrier on a 3-5 year contract.

Side-by-side feature comparison

Partly the same underlying technical platform (iot.cards resells Kite for Telefónica traffic, plus Conexa for Vodafone and melita.io for international); different commercial model, multi-carrier reach, and access conditions.

	Telefónica Kite	iot.cards
Origin and focus	Telefónica Tech's IoT management platform (Telefónica's enterprise division). Positioning: complete Telefónica solution for large accounts. Kite is the platform; the underlying connectivity is exclusively Telefónica.	Spanish IoT MVNO (Seville, Kore Logic SL since 2013). Multi-network positioning across Telefónica, Vodafone, Orange, MásMóvil and 750+ international networks. Underlying stack combines Kite (Telefónica), Conexa (Vodafone), melita.io (international).
Spain coverage	Telefónica/Movistar network only (the largest national footprint, but a single one). If Telefónica loses coverage in a location, there is no fallback to another national carrier.	Multi-IMSI with documented access to all four Spanish networks: Telefónica, Vodafone, Orange and MásMóvil. Automatic switching to the strongest signal at each location, no recontracting.
Carrier failover	Not applicable — the platform is single-carrier by design. Redundancy requires adding dual modems or another carrier's SIM in parallel, managed on a separate platform.	Native failover in under 30 seconds across Telefónica/Vodafone/Orange/MásMóvil from the same SIM. Per-SIM preference policy configurable (by country, technology, cost).
Private APN	Available under enterprise contract with Telefónica Tech. Negotiated through corporate account.	Dedicated APN with your CIDR range + IPSec/WireGuard tunnel into your VPC, contractable as a standard layer from the first SIM. No minimum volume, no annual contract.
Static IP	Public static IP with whitelisting available on Kite Platform under enterprise plan. Excellent native integration, but gated behind enterprise negotiation.	Static IPv4 (direct public, routed public with allowlist, or private) per SIM, contractable from the first unit. The underlying stack for Telefónica static IP uses the same Kite layer that Telefónica Tech sells directly.
Onboarding and self-service	Enterprise flow: commercial account → discovery → proposal → contract → activation. Typical timelines of weeks to months for new corporate clients. Free Demo Kit available for technical evaluation before signing.	Onboarding from the first SIM, no enterprise committee. Order via web, instant activation, monthly invoice. Designed for 5-50 SIM pilots that don't require a corporate buyer to justify internally.
REST API and portal	Kite Platform: mature REST API, enterprise dashboard, advanced reporting, native integration with Telefónica IoT Cloud. Built for corporate IT teams.	Documented REST API with HMAC-signed webhooks, ICCID idempotency, bilingual ES/EN management portal. Comparable in core capabilities (activation, suspension, top-up, monitoring, alarms, GSM geolocation, SMS), more integrator-friendly focus.
Technical support	Telefónica Tech enterprise support, escalated through account manager. High quality for large accounts; less accessible for integrators with small or mid-sized fleets.	Engineering team in Seville, phone and email support in Spanish, English and Portuguese. Human technical onboarding from the first SIM regardless of account size.
Commercial model	Enterprise contract with Telefónica Tech, typically with volume and/or duration commitment (1-3 years). Tariffs negotiated per project.	No lock-in, no per-SIM minimum, monthly invoice for actual pooled consumption. Tariffs: pay-as-you-go (€0.005/MB), volume-discounted bundles, enterprise tariff if the case requires it.
Best fit	Large corporate deployment (>1,000 SIMs) with Telefónica preference or exclusivity, native integration with other Telefónica products (Cloud, IoT vertical bundles), or a customer who already has a master agreement with Telefónica Tech and wants to consolidate.	Integrators, installers, manufacturers and companies (10 to 10,000 SIMs) that need multi-network without enterprise gate, a single invoice covering all Spanish networks, Spanish-speaking engineering support, and the flexibility not to lock into a single carrier on a 3-5 year contract.

When to choose which

Choose Telefónica Kite if…

Your organisation already has a master agreement with Telefónica Tech and procurement wants to consolidate under one vendor.
Your deployment is 100% in Movistar coverage and you don't need fallback to another national network.
You need native integration with other Telefónica products (IoT Cloud Connect, Kite Platform specifics, Movistar eSIM).
Your volume is high (typically >1,000 active SIMs) and enterprise negotiation gets you better pricing.
The enterprise procurement process (weeks to months) isn't a blocker for your deployment timeline.
You don't need to contract private APN or static IP from the first pilot SIM — you can wait for the enterprise contract.

Choose iot.cards if…

You need real multi-IMSI access to Telefónica, Vodafone, Orange and MásMóvil from the same SIM, not a single carrier.
You want automatic failover across national networks when one drops — fleets, solar, alarms, smart metering.
Your fleet is 10-10,000 SIMs and you can't or won't go through enterprise procurement to start.
You need private APN or static IP contractable from the first pilot SIM, not as gated enterprise modules.
You want a single aggregated invoice from one vendor for all Spanish networks (not a separate invoice per carrier).
Your department doesn't want strategic dependence on a single carrier on a 3-5 year contract — flexibility and portability matter.
You want Spanish-speaking engineering support accessible by phone and email from the first SIM, without going through an enterprise account manager.

Frequently asked questions

Does iot.cards use the Telefónica network?: Yes — Telefónica/Movistar is one of four underlying carriers iot.cards uses in Spain (alongside Vodafone, Orange and MásMóvil). The technical stack serving Telefónica traffic uses the same Kite layer that Telefónica Tech sells directly. The difference is that iot.cards combines that stack with the other national carriers and with melita.io for international, all under one contract and one invoice.
If iot.cards resells Kite, isn't it the same as Telefónica Kite?: No, they're commercially different products even if they share the underlying layer for Telefónica traffic. Telefónica Kite is the platform sold directly by Telefónica Tech, on Telefónica's network only, with enterprise flow. iot.cards is a multi-network MVNO that adds Vodafone, Orange, MásMóvil and melita.io to the stack, sells without an enterprise gate, and bills aggregated. If all you need is Telefónica and you already have a Telefónica Tech master agreement, going direct to Kite makes sense. If you need multi-network or don't want to go through enterprise sales, iot.cards fits better.
Does Telefónica have better Spain coverage than Vodafone/Orange/MásMóvil?: Telefónica/Movistar traditionally has the largest national footprint, especially in rural areas and indoor coverage thanks to its 800/900 MHz network. But that advantage isn't uniform: there are specific corridors and counties where Vodafone or Orange offer better signal. The advantage of multi-network isn't "one carrier is better than another" but rather "if Telefónica loses coverage in a specific location, the device automatically attaches to the next available network without intervention". For a large fleet distributed across Spain, that fallback eliminates the single point of failure.
Can I get static IP on Telefónica Kite without enterprise sales?: In practice, no — public static IP with whitelisting on Kite Platform is a module under enterprise contract with Telefónica Tech, which means account negotiation and volume commitment. iot.cards offers static IP (direct public, routed public with allowlist, or private via VPN) contractable from the first SIM as a per-SIM add-on, without going through enterprise sales. The underlying stack for Telefónica traffic is the same; the difference is commercial.
What about billing when you consolidate all carriers on iot.cards?: A single monthly Spanish invoice (Kore Logic SL, Spanish CIF B90463662) for actual pooled consumption, regardless of which network served each SIM at any moment. Compared to having a Telefónica Kite contract + a Vodafone contract + an international roaming solution, it dramatically simplifies financial admin. For companies closing books monthly, it matters.
What if I'm already a Telefónica Tech customer with Kite?: If your volume is high and your deployment is 100% Telefónica with deep integration into other Telefónica products (Cloud Connect, Kite Platform specifics, Movistar eSIM bundles), stay with Kite — there's no commercial reason to migrate. If what you value about Kite is Telefónica coverage but you want to add multi-network, a common path is to keep Kite for the legacy fleet and start new deployments on iot.cards (which also gives you Telefónica via the underlying Kite stack, without losing what you already have).
When should I NOT pick iot.cards?: If your organisation already has a consolidated enterprise agreement with Telefónica Tech, your volume is very large (>10,000 SIMs) and procurement wants everything centralised under Telefónica, going direct to Kite simplifies the relationship. If you need deep integration with Telefónica products that aren't just connectivity (IoT Cloud Connect, Telefónica's own vertical bundles), Kite fits better. If your case is 100% Telefónica with no need for fallback, you don't need multi-network and the multi-carrier management overhead doesn't pay off.

Want us to size your case?

Tell us how many devices, what they consume, what your requirements are (private APN, static IP, regulated vertical) and whether you already have a Telefónica contract. We'll honestly tell you which fits better — even if the answer is "stay with Kite".