Even if Android is ready for eSIM tech your carrier probably isn't

[AC News]

Using an eSIM is supposed to be easier but phone carriers have a unique ability to ruin everything.

Even if Android is ready for eSIM tech your carrier probably isn't : Read more

 

[Lawrie Sherratt]

Too true, I recently had a message from EE here in the UK my ESim was ready to download. Did this and it made my normal sim card unusable. Was unable to make/ receive a call or text Contacted support via land line and they couldn't fix it. Had to wait for a new sim . Totally unacceptable.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Too true, I recently had a message from EE here in the UK my ESim was ready to download. Did this and it made my normal sim card unusable. Was unable to make/ receive a call or text Contacted support via land line and they couldn't fix it. Had to wait for a new sim . Totally unacceptable.

They won't even let me switch to eSIM as I'm on Pay As You Go, sounds like I may have been saved a headache though.

 

[ChrisJahr]

There are many issues from an eSIM adoption standpoint, one of the greatest barriers to adoption are actually the SIM vendors themselves. Unlike the silicon valley giants that have mastered technology and changed our lives at scale, the SIM industry is dominated by four companies that comprise about 80% market share (Thales, Idemia, G+D Mobile Security and Valid). For 30 years these companies have been pumping out SIM cards from factories around the world, and to flip to a fully digital paradigm requires a complete change in mindset and operational orientation. The introduction of the eSIM puts these companies squarely into the real time provisioning path forcing them to operate more like Amazon Web Services and less like a process driven factory. But as history as demonstrated, many companies have failed to successfully transition. Just think of Kodak and Blockbuster Video just to name two.

Because of this, wireless carriers have not had a high degree of confidence in the SIM vendors resulting in relatively low eSIM adoption. But rather than proactively investing and building out highly scalable eSIM infrastructure, the SIM vendors took the approach to price gouge the carriers. In the SIM card days, carriers ordered SIM cards, received them and paid, but now SIM vendors have begun charging for hosting eSIM platforms and their setup fees, they charge to develop eSIM templates (called profiles), they charge to create an eSIM and they charge to download them. And on top of that, they provide lackluster support at best. So with multiple costs that carriers must pay, it should come as no surprise that adoption has been low, even though eSIM technology has been around for over 10 years now.

As handset OEMs embark on their eSIM-only roadmaps, the single greatest risk is that the SIM vendors do not perform well resulting in failed activations and/or fumbled eSIM downloads. The only way to mitigate this is for the wireless carriers to take full control of their eSIM ecosystem, as after all, who is better at operating wireless networks than the wireless operators themselves.

 

[hmmm]

I'm not interested in a phone without a physical sim. I will use the pixel 7 for 5+years before I switch to an esim only phone and at that point I will go with a different company or get the last used phone with a physical sim. This means I likely can continue using a phone with a physical sim for almost a decade at least in the worst case scenario.

I recently tried out an apple device and went with a iPhone 13 due to the hassle esim causes. My physical sim takes literally 10 seconds to swap.

I lived through the sprint CDMA days and will never go back to allowing the carrier that much control over the phone I want to use.

 

[Narcopolypse]

2019? What are you talking about? I've been using exclusively eSIM since I got my Nexus 5X. It's been around since way before 2019.

 

[mustang7757]

This is true not friendly switching esims but TMobile is . Still you have to contact the carrier and can't do this through your account which is stupid.

 

[Jerry Hildenbrand]

2019? What are you talking about? I've been using exclusively eSIM since I got my Nexus 5X. It's been around since way before 2019.

The Nexus 5X requires a physical SIM card. Carriers advertising a reprogrammable SIM card as an eSIM aren't being 100% honest.

The Pixel 2 was the first phone to launch with an actual embedded chip for subscriber identity. You did find a typo though as it launched in 2017 not 2019.

 

[Kashif Nawaz]

In my country all carriers are pushing eSIM very hard. And some giving eSIM only discount but the problem is that if I switched a phone I have to buy a new eSIM, as one eSIM QR CODE is valid for one mobile only. Untill there's a way to easily transfer eSIM from one mobile to another I'm sticking with Physical SIM.

 

[mustang7757]

In my country all carriers are pushing eSIM very hard. And some giving eSIM only discount but the problem is that if I switched a phone I have to buy a new eSIM, as one eSIM QR CODE is valid for one mobile only. Untill there's a way to easily transfer eSIM from one mobile to another I'm sticking with Physical SIM.

Yeah ATT here in the US is a pain to switch between devices so I went back to regular sim card

 

[kxc1279]

I'm not interested in a phone without a physical sim. I will use the pixel 7 for 5+years before I switch to an esim only phone and at that point I will go with a different company or get the last used phone with a physical sim. This means I likely can continue using a phone with a physical sim for almost a decade at least in the worst case scenario.

I recently tried out an apple device and went with a iPhone 13 due to the hassle esim causes. My physical sim takes literally 10 seconds to swap.

I lived through the sprint CDMA days and will never go back to allowing the carrier that much control over the phone I want to use.

100%. Unfortunately I did get the 14 Pro Max. Converted the pSIM from my iPhone 13 to eSIM, then transferred the eSIM to the 14. I did NOT do further research as to how easily it would be to transfer that iPhone eSIM to another non-iPhone smartphone. Suffice to say, NOT even easy b/c it's NOT possible. I'd have to contact the carrier. Truly reminds me of the Verizon & Sprint SIM Provisioning era. I just stopped paying my prepaid carrier and deleted the eSIM profile. Now, I know I'm NOT the mainstream user that the carriers are targeting. In the end though, IMHO, this takes away control from the end user. The ease of popping the pSIM & inserting into another phone is kaput, more control for the carriers. My last iPhone of course, lesson learned.

 

[cribble2k]

I've been using eSIM with my Pixel 6 PRO for almost 2 years now without issue.

Bell (Canada)