Goodbye SIM, hello e-SIM: Time to make a switch?
NEW DELHI : E-SIMs or embedded SIMs will soon replace those fiddly physical SIMs in smartphones and other devices. Airtel’s top boss Gopal Vittal has urged subscribers to move to e-SIMs. But what exactly are they, how do they work, and what does it mean for us? Embedded SIM, or e-SIM is a digital copy of a physical SIM card.
A SIM, which stands for subscriber identity module, is a smart card with a microchip. While a physical SIM can be inserted into and removed from a phone, an e-SIM is embedded into a device, be it a smartphone, smartwatch or, in the near future, even laptops, as part of a chip. It allows the device to be permanently connected with a telecom service provider’s network, therefore eliminating the need for a physical SIM.
Since it is a digital copy of a physical SIM card, the same information that resides on a physical SIM can be stored in the e-SIM. With e-SIM, customers will no longer have to be dependent on a physical SIM card. No more fiddling about with multiple tiny cards.
Even when users want to change their phone or operator, they can easily transfer the e-SIM to their new mobile phone or to a new operator, digitally. In case a customer needs, they can use multiple mobile numbers on a single e-SIM. The key benefit here is that in case a customer’s device gets stolen, it will be that much harder for criminals to get rid of the e-SIM, since it is part of the chipset within the hardware of the phone.
This will also make a lost phone easier to track. In India, all carriers offer e-SIMs. But since they require devices that are e-SIM enabled, the uptake has been slow.
Globally, many carriers and smartphone brands provide e-SIMs. Apple introduced them with the XR/XS series. With the iPhone 15 it has
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