

Apple has a list of eSIM-ready wireless providers on its website, but as of when this is written, that only includes 39 networks and still lacks some MVNOs, including US Mobile. For one, finding out who's accepting eSIMs is not readily apparent.
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US Mobile and Verizon-owned Visible offer similar free trial programs over apps that use an eSIM to allow you to try out their respective networks.Īlthough there is plenty of optimism from some smaller wireless players for the future, some wireless watchers do envision a few potential issues in the transition. If you want to stick with your current provider, you can simply delete the eSIM inside the settings app of your phone. If you want to switch, the app will guide you through the process. You will need your phone to be unlocked to participate, but the company doesn't run a credit check or even take down a credit card number. Using the eSIM, the virtual SIM card is downloaded from T-Mobile's app and is designed to exist alongside your current provider to let you see if T-Mobile's network works as well or exceeds what a rival might be offering. Last month it expanded the program, now dubbed Network Pass, to allow for three free months of T-Mobile service. Some, like T-Mobile, have even been utilizing the technology to offer free trials of their networks as a way to lure customers from competitors. Khattak envisions that, over the next couple of years "the end result" of the switch to eSIM technology will lead to people "buying their cell phone connectivity on the app stores, not through local stores."Īll three of the major US carriers support eSIM.Īll three of the main US providers support the eSIM. You don't have to deal with figuring out what size SIM card goes into your phone, when to put it in during activation or having to search for 16- or 17-digit numbers to enter into a website or repeat to a customer service representative to activate the physical SIM cards. He notes that the porting process is largely the same via eSIM as it was with physical SIM cards, but because you don't need to wait for a physical SIM card to show up it can go faster, leading to a potentially more seamless experience. Khattak says that the process can potentially take "less than a minute to get your device provisioned with us." If you wanted to leave, that could similarly take "less than a minute to cancel your phone number" and bring it to someone else, which is known as "porting." "I think the reason why people think it's not that easy is because most carriers have made it very difficult" to switch in the past. "It's easier for you to move in, it's easy for you to move out," he says. Khattak has nearly 250,000 subscribers for his US Mobile service, with a third of his customers using eSIMs today. It's literally 'you sign up online and you activate.' No different than you sign up for Netflix." With the eSIM, he says the activation and transferring can be done "immediately" at the time of purchase. Customers then have to put the SIM card into their phone and go through an activation process. No different than signing up for NetflixĪ physical SIM card, Stokols says, usually takes a few days to arrive if ordered online. Having an easier way to get customers to switch networks could be key to its ability to grow. Later this year Dish will start offering Boost Infinite, a wireless service that seems set to more directly compete with the big three providers.
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Once a Sprint brand, it became part of Dish as a result of T-Mobile's 2020 merger with Sprint, with the satellite TV provider now in the process of becoming a fourth network option to rival AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Boost Mobile uses a combination of AT&T, T-Mobile and parent Dish's wireless networks.


"The fact that they just got rid of it like headphone jacks is surprising."īoost Mobile CEO Stephen Stokols believes eSIM technology makes it "way easier to switch" providers.

"I didn't expect that they just go cold turkey on physical SIM cards," he adds.
