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Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

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Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#21

Post by vladvasiliu »

wkat4242 wrote: post #4
anderspitman wrote: post #2

I've had a great experience with eSIMs these past few days during a trip to Europe (coming from the US). It's so convenient to be able to arrive at a city and use airport wifi to download a mobile data package for a few bucks. The process is slightly clunky but not bad at all.

I'm in Europe and I've had very poor experiences with local carriers in getting an eSIM :( Most of them outright refuse unless you are on a mobile contract plan with them (I'm not, I hate contracts so I only use prepay). On prepay they don't want to support it here in Spain for whatever stupid reason even though I've had my prepay number for 10 years. They also levy much more restrictions on the whole ordeal: Usually…

> the whole idea of eSIM was to make things easier for the customer, not harder and more restrictive.

I remember reading an article in a French newspaper about how carriers were "uncomfortable" with the eSIM because it severed "the last connection" between them and their customers. The latter would basically no longer have a reason to "interact" with the former.

I don't quite see how that's a bad thing. The less you have to deal with "those people" (and this works from either side), the better it is, no? In my case, the last time I've "interacted" with my carrier was some 10 years ago when my phone got stolen, and I had to get a new SIM. Other than that, I pay them every month and they make sure my phone works every month.

At least with my carrier, it's cheaper to get an eSIM than a physical SIM. I didn't actually get one, since I've had my current SIM for a very long time. They basically charge for the "SIM service", and there's a separate charge for the physical part if you get it in a brick & mortar store, or for shipping if you want it delivered.

> Usually only locally sold models are allowed.

How can they tell, are there still country-specific models? I know people from the US and from Russia coming to France, popping a local SIM in and being in business. These were all iPhones, though.

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#22

Post by gorbypark »

housemusicfan wrote: post #14
wkat4242 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Samsung Z Flip 5 has this too :( Only 1 real SIM and the rest only eSIM. However it is a bit more understandable because the flip has very limited space due to the hinge components.

The USA versions of Apple's flagship phones (iPhone 14 and up) have ZERO physical SIM slots. They are dual eSIM only. Models sold elsewhere in the world retain a single physical SIM slot. Yes you read that correctly. They made multiple versions and the American one is deliberately crippled. I'm certain the space regained by removing the SIM slot in a US-only variant has been repurposed for...absolutely nothing. It de…

I don't have the time to look, but I saw a YouTube video where someone swapped the dual physical sim daughterboard from a Chinese iPhone into an American one. It fit and it worked. I'm about 80% sure it was a dual eSIM only American model (14), but it's possible it was a single SIM/single eSIM one (13 and below). Anyways, I am pretty sure the space is there and is just unused.

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#23

Post by Nextgrid »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #21
wkat4242 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Europe and I've had very poor experiences with local carriers in getting an eSIM :( Most of them outright refuse unless you are on a mobile contract plan with them (I'm not, I hate contracts so I only use prepay). On prepay they don't want to support it here in Spain for whatever stupid reason even though I've had my prepay number for 10 years. They also levy much more restrictions on the whole ordeal: Usually…

> the whole idea of eSIM was to make things easier for the customer, not harder and more restrictive. I remember reading an article in a French newspaper about how carriers were "uncomfortable" with the eSIM because it severed "the last connection" between them and their customers. The latter would basically no longer have a reason to "interact" with the former. I don't quite see how that's a bad thing. The less you…

> I don't quite see how that's a bad thing

But how is the carrier going to "engage" you? How are all the people involved in sales and marketing there going to justify their job?

A carrier that operates fully automatically with minimal customer interaction could indeed be more profitable, but it's politically impossible for any established company to transition to such a model since it would obviate the need for many positions there - those same positions rely on the current status-quo (no matter how mediocre) and will fight any attempts at improving efficiency.

(this is not limited to carriers, any large legacy company has the same issues - lots of positions are just there to create work to sustain other, equally-useless positions, while the new output of the system being zero or even negative).

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#24

Post by ranma42 »

wkat4242 wrote: post #4
anderspitman wrote: post #2

I've had a great experience with eSIMs these past few days during a trip to Europe (coming from the US). It's so convenient to be able to arrive at a city and use airport wifi to download a mobile data package for a few bucks. The process is slightly clunky but not bad at all.

I'm in Europe and I've had very poor experiences with local carriers in getting an eSIM :( Most of them outright refuse unless you are on a mobile contract plan with them (I'm not, I hate contracts so I only use prepay). On prepay they don't want to support it here in Spain for whatever stupid reason even though I've had my prepay number for 10 years. They also levy much more restrictions on the whole ordeal: Usually…

Vodafone in Germany was happy to give me an eSIM for a prepaid plan, not even a store visit required (but it did require taking a photo of my ID and a identity verification video call where someone checks your video against the ID). I guess with AI-based video manipulation, a store visit may be required in the future...

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#25

Post by notpushkin »

Any idea how one can get hands on consumer-profile eUICC cards (or chips)? I've wanted to play around with eSIM (and perhaps use it for travel purposes), but don't want to upgrade my phone just yet.

Found this one, but it's for testing only: https://www.smartjac.biz/esim-subscription-management/consum...

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#26

Post by throwaway67743 »

wkat4242 wrote: post #15
raincom wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For instance, Eurolink eSIM card with 180 days validity can be had for 180 euros on Airalo.com. They also have re-chargeable eSIMs, just you need to top up just before it expires.

Ah but that is really really expensive :) I can get a local SIM with 50GB data that is available with a 10 euro topup each month. Don't forget the purchasing power in Europe is much lower than in the US (especially southern Europe). For this reason local carriers are a lot cheaper too.

If argue that it's the opposite as there is competition and in civilised European countries there is working regulation etc, not like the US where carriers are able to lobby and cheat to maintain their monopolies - case in point I have unlimited everything (Inc 5g, except MMS) in country and 64G in the rest of Europe for about 30 EUR/mo

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#27

Post by Nextgrid »

ranma42 wrote: post #24
wkat4242 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Europe and I've had very poor experiences with local carriers in getting an eSIM :( Most of them outright refuse unless you are on a mobile contract plan with them (I'm not, I hate contracts so I only use prepay). On prepay they don't want to support it here in Spain for whatever stupid reason even though I've had my prepay number for 10 years. They also levy much more restrictions on the whole ordeal: Usually…

Vodafone in Germany was happy to give me an eSIM for a prepaid plan, not even a store visit required (but it did require taking a photo of my ID and a identity verification video call where someone checks your video against the ID). I guess with AI-based video manipulation, a store visit may be required in the future...

> a store visit may be required in the future...

Or not, considering how store employees are treated and paid. It's probably much cheaper to bribe some low-level clerk than build & deploy a convincing AI spoofing solution.

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#28

Post by noman-land »

wkat4242 wrote: post #3

For who wonders about the waving cat: These are used a lot at hacker conferences to check if the cams are still working (and not frozen). Shenanigans on the network are of course common at these events :) So they are put on the stages while nothing is on. This was a big success and it turned out to be a bit of a mascotte :P They've become a permanent fixture now.

I always wondered about this. Thank you.

Re: Demystifying ESIM Technology [video]

#30

Post by mschuster91 »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #21
wkat4242 wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in Europe and I've had very poor experiences with local carriers in getting an eSIM :( Most of them outright refuse unless you are on a mobile contract plan with them (I'm not, I hate contracts so I only use prepay). On prepay they don't want to support it here in Spain for whatever stupid reason even though I've had my prepay number for 10 years. They also levy much more restrictions on the whole ordeal: Usually…

> the whole idea of eSIM was to make things easier for the customer, not harder and more restrictive. I remember reading an article in a French newspaper about how carriers were "uncomfortable" with the eSIM because it severed "the last connection" between them and their customers. The latter would basically no longer have a reason to "interact" with the former. I don't quite see how that's a bad thing. The less you…

> The less you have to deal with "those people" (and this works from either side), the better it is, no?

The less contact, the less opportunity to upsell you to something that provides them recurring revenue.

It's all about rent seeking ("passive income") these days, everywhere.

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