Profile provisioning method and apparatus

1. A profile provisioning method of a terminal, the method comprising:

transmitting, to a market server, a request message including information on an access public land mobile network (PLMN);

receiving, from the market server, a response message including information on a plurality of subscription plans offered by a plurality of operators; and

displaying a subscription plan list including the plurality of subscription plans offered by the plurality of operators,

wherein the plurality of subscription plans offered by the plurality of operators are arranged in an order of their corresponding priorities in the subscription plan list,

wherein the plurality of subscription plans offered by the plurality of operators are prioritized based on the information on the access PLMN, and

wherein a subscription plan offered by an operator corresponding to the access PLMN has a higher priority than all other subscription plans among the plurality of subscription plans offered by the plurality of operators.

2. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the information on the access PLMN includes a PLMN ID of an operator to which the terminal is accessed.

3. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the request message further includes terminal manufacturer information, and

wherein the subscription plans are prioritized based on the information on the access PLMN and the terminal manufacturer information.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising receiving an input for selecting a subscription plan from the subscription plan list.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

transmitting information on the selected subscription plan to the market server; and

receiving an address of a profile server corresponding to the selected subscription plan from the market server.

6. The method of claim 5 , further comprising downloading a profile using the address of the profile server based on an operator, offering the selected subscription plan, which matches the operator to which the terminal is accessed.

7. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

detaching from the operator to which the terminal is accessed based on an operator, offering the selected subscription plan, which does not match the operator to which the terminal is accessed;

attempting to access to the operator offering the selected subscription plan; and

downloading a profile using the address of the profile server.

8. The method of claim 5 , further comprising:

waiting for the operator to which the terminal is accessed to establish a bearer with the operator, offering the selected subscription plan, which does not match the operator to which the terminal is accessed; and

downloading a profile using the address of the profile server after the bearer is established.

9. A terminal comprising:

a universal integrated circuit card (UICC);

a display;

a transceiver configured to transmit and receive signals; and

at least one processor configured to:

control the transceiver to transmit, to a market server, a request message including information on an access public land mobile network (PLMN),

control the transceiver to receive, from the market server, a response message including information on a plurality of subscription plans offered by a plurality of operators, and

control the display to display a subscription plan list including the plurality of subscription plans offered by the plurality of operators,

wherein the plurality of subscription plans offered by the plurality of operators are arranged in an order of their corresponding priorities in the subscription plan list,

wherein the plurality of subscription plans offered by the plurality of operators are prioritized based on the information on the access PLMN, and

wherein a subscription plan offered by an operator corresponding to the access PLMN has a higher priority than all other subscription plans among the plurality of subscription plans offered by the plurality of operators.

10. The terminal of claim 9 ,

wherein the information on the access PLMN includes a PLMN ID of an operator to which the terminal is accessed.

11. The terminal of claim 9 ,

wherein the request message further includes terminal manufacturer information, and

wherein the subscription plans are prioritized based on the information on the access PLMN and the terminal manufacturer information.

12. The terminal of claim 9 , further comprising:

an interface,

wherein the at least one processor is further configured to receive an input selecting a subscription plan from the subscription plan list via the interface.

13. The terminal of claim 12 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

control the transceiver to transmit information on the selected subscription plan to the market server, and

control the transceiver to receive an address of a profile server corresponding to the selected subscription plan from the market server.

14. The terminal of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to control the transceiver to download a profile using the address of the profile server based on an operator, offering the selected subscription plan, which matches the operator to which the terminal is accessed.

15. The terminal of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

control the terminal to detach from the operator to which the terminal is accessed based on an operator, offering the selected subscription plan, which does not match the operator to which the terminal is accessed,

attempt to access to the operator offering the selected subscription plan, and

download a profile using the address of the profile server.

16. The terminal of claim 13 , wherein the at least one processor is further configured to:

control the terminal to wait for the operator to which the terminal is accessed to establish a bearer with the operator offering the selected subscription plan, which does not match the operator to which the terminal is accessed, and

download a profile using the address of the profile server after the bearer is established.