EE Makes eSIM Downloads Possible for UK Mobile Customers
Customers of EE’s UK mobile network may be pleased to learn that the operator recently simplified the eSIM installation process, which has finally made it possible for them to properly download, install and activate an eSIM on their chosen device or Smartphone.
A traditional SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card contains a chip that authenticates your identity to a mobile operator, usually as soon as you slide one into a new mobile phone or other supporting device. But a growing number of new devices are also shipping with eSIM support, which essentially embeds an electronic SIM into your device (i.e. making it quicker and easier to switch between carriers via multiple account support).
The problem is that implementation of eSIM support has been quite mixed, which can often result in customers still needing to rely on some degree of physical SIM cards or processes. The same was also true for EE, at least it was until around the middle of April 2021 when a number of customers reported to ISPreview.co.uk that they had received the following notice.
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My EE Notice – 14th April 2021
Ordered an eSIM for a compatible pay monthly device? We’ve now simplified the installation process.
First, you’ll recieve a notification on the ‘springboard’ of your My EE app to let you know when your eSIM is ready to download. Tap the ‘Download eSIM’ button, then follow the steps to download, install and activate the eSIM profile on your chosen device. SIMple as that!
The operator appeared to experiment with this toward the end of last year (here), but that didn’t appear to work properly and this new digital process does. The ability to do all of this online will make life a lot easier, provided you have a phone that can support the feature on EE’s network.
Mark is a professional technology writer, IT consultant and computer engineer from Dorset (England), he also founded ISPreview in 1999 and enjoys analysing the latest telecoms and broadband developments. Find me on X (Twitter), Mastodon, Facebook, BlueSky, Threads.net and Linkedin.
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1 minute after midnight and theres already an article lol
Timing so good it’s almost like it was scheduled in advance to coincide with when an embargo on the press release was to be lifted.
Yes, most embargoes lift at midnight or 8-9am, so news sites use post scheduling for that and this is pretty normal. In other cases, like this one, I finish an article too late to make it worth putting online that same day and so flick it over to the next one.
eSIM must surely be the future. Or at least heavily encouraged by the networks… the cost saving must be significant enough to push users to downloading the eSIM pack rather than awaiting one in the post / in store visit.
Nah I prefer physical SIM cards
The magical day three enables eSIM support…….
In reality, the future for mobile is just to connect with a data network, all other services will be handed off.
Personally I prefer to not have a mobile number, I see unsolicited communications platforms as a base for problems in this day in age, if we ditch this old school system and opt to permit communications between parties then the ‘scamming’ that runs wild currently ends very quickly,
and hey, with the snooping charter now taking hold all over the world, scam emails with be a thing of the past as we will all be subject to only approved communications.
@NC Steering customers into a store creates a better upsell opportunity than an app. Here’s your new sim pack and while you’re here, would you like me to see if I can save you some money on your broadband…
How you manage eSim’s is important.
If your phone breaks then how do you de-activate the eSim on the broken device so that you can get activate the eSim on the replacement device?
Currently with a physical sim you can swap the card across in seconds to a spare/new/loan phone.
Small things make life simple and using eSims will complicate things.
o2’s is a disaster – I mean you get 3 chances to download it and then they have to send you a new one in the post. Literally a ball ache!
My phone had a fit and after 2 in the post I left and went back to actual sim lol
Note that ordering an eSim through the EE app is not free. It’s supposed to be 50p but they’ve charged me £2.00: £1.50 charged to the line that I switched to eSim and 50p charged to the overall account.
Vodafone its free to download… EE take forever to send a sim
After having contacted for 7 year’s with EE switched to this sim and EE cut me off lost my old number and said my payment was fraud ..what a piss take EE is …..no complaints department at all
Google EE CEO email and fire a quick email off outlining these problems. Someone from their executive office will get back to you. They are generally very good at getting the desired outcome.
Hopefully Three will support esim and Apple Watch soon
Yes! and fast 4G and maybe even faster 5G!
All seems loony I know..
What happens if you need to pop your sim into another phone most networks are using stupid bots instead of live pepple on a phone the bot will sent you round in circles
How long before Esims can be hacked? I think the hacker’s are going to have a field day
Only downside is if you have to go back to an old phone for some reason and your eSIM doesn’t work in it. my current phone (victim) doesn’t support eSIM nor do I plan to get one that does support it cos I just don’t have the need.
I prefer a physical SIM card. It can be swapped to new device, temporarily put in an old one if you lose, damage or forget to charge your usual phone, or similarly put in an old phone when you go on holiday. Works better for dual SIM phones too.
My fear is for the security of our bank accounts and other services. With Sim Swap fraud, it is easy to circumvent the secondary checks used by banks to verify your identity.
Downloading an eSIM allows new holes to be exploited in this fragile mechanism.
More and more, your mobile becomes the gateway to many services
I’m with EE and Vodafone and happy with sim, however Vodafone have been offering this for a while. I switched to vodafone eSim on my iPhone as it didn’t have dual sim support. It was really straight forward via my account and no interaction from their support department But when I needed to switch back to sim, it was the Same – hassle free and switched back to my old sim without support.
Presumably after their trials other EE providers like plusnet will get them too
Imagine charging customers to obtain an esim ontop of an existing plan…
EE are such rip-offs.