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eSIMs…

Pheasant

ULTIMATE Member
I was pleased to see that Apple now allow you the option to retain the eSIM data when otherwise fully erasing a phone. Saves a trip to the phone shop to get another eSIM pack and all the associated hassle to get it working etc etc.

Now if they could work out a way to securely swap the eSIM when changing handsets that would be grand.

Pretty much like having a physical SIM to simply swap. Wow. Technology is great. Sometimes. 🤣
 
When doing a phone to phone transfer when setting up a new iphone you get the option to transfer esims, however i don't think all uk networks support this feature yet.

Thanks. I had an overseas eSIM (Optus - Australia) and couldn’t do it…

It was a bit circular - they wouldn’t issue a new eSIM electronically after their breach / data hack last year. Had to physically go into an Optus shop.

Bit hard I said I’m 12,000 miles from the nearest.🤣

Subsequently lost the number etc. No great shakes but then they also ‘lost’ the top up I had sitting on the account as it was all tied in with the number. Bit hopeless. I gave up chasing in the end.
 
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esim support in this country is a total joke. I visited every single mobile company (the main ones of course, with physical shops) and not one of them sells PAYG esims. None. It doesn't make any sense to me, surely they would save money by not issuing physical sims. Sadly my phone only supports one physical SIM and I like having a backup network, it can come in very handy. For now, i'm making do with the voda/voxi esim loophole but I have no idea how long that will continue to work for.

seems like esims are to mobile networks what IPv6 is to ISPs. bad juju secret magic.
 
On the Giff Gaff forum, someone replied with

Sadly not.

This is wholly down the Apple who licence eSIMs to carriers.

EE, Vodafone and, now, O2 support eSIMs but Apple have not licenced any other carriers in the UK and a number of European carriers have stopped supporting eSIMs due to the licencing conditions.

Is it true that Apple has to licence the operator to "use" eSIM's? I thought eSIM was an international standard, after all non-Apple devices like the Google Pixel have had them for years. All seems a bit odd to me!
 
On the Giff Gaff forum, someone replied with



Is it true that Apple has to licence the operator to "use" eSIM's? I thought eSIM was an international standard, after all non-Apple devices like the Google Pixel have had them for years. All seems a bit odd to me!
sounds a bit odd that. Yeah eSIM should be a standard. But iPhones provision themselves in a very strange way. I don't own an iPhone so can't comment but when I did MDM (mobile device management) for them, yeah they are different in their provisioning / registering on a network to any other type (basically android, but also when windows/nokia/RIM etc were still a thing). I can't see the statement being true, but who knows.
 
I can't see the statement being true, but who knows.
It does kinda explain why none of the four main operator's have PAYG eSIM's and also none of the Virtual operators have them either!

Your vodafone -> VOXI proves that eSIM's can and do work with Virtual operator's. But that these virtual operators can't issue and register them in their own right.

I wonder is there some kind of encryption chain going on, and each eSIM has to be "signed" in some way to prevent cloning etc. Maybe Apple is one of the few companies that can verify and provide a certificate chain in order to make the signing valid? Kinda like the SSL certificate chains before LetsEncypt launched their free service.
 
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Some interesting info about how it works here


haven't had time to do anything but skim it yet though.
 




First device was the Samsung Gear S2 Classic 3G watch.

Pixel 2 was the first phone with eSIM.
 
esim support in this country is a total joke. I visited every single mobile company (the main ones of course, with physical shops) and not one of them sells PAYG esims. None. It doesn't make any sense to me, surely they would save money by not issuing physical sims. Sadly my phone only supports one physical SIM and I like having a backup network, it can come in very handy. For now, i'm making do with the voda/voxi esim loophole but I have no idea how long that will continue to work for.

seems like esims are to mobile networks what IPv6 is to ISPs. bad juju secret magic.
I had an iPhone on eSIM with EE and was able to successfully transfer the eSIM to a new iPhone - however, later I discovered EE billed me £1.50.
Raised a complaint as no mention of a charge at re-provisioning on the new iPhone, EE said that because 'I had changed SIM's' there was a charge - they then pointed me to the T&Cs about 'lost SIM's'!
Needless to say I wasn't going anywhere without it being refunded, but seriously monetising everything...even without T&C's..
 
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I had an iPhone on eSIM with EE and was able to successfully transfer the eSIM to a new iPhone - however, later I discovered EE billed me £1.50.
Raised a complaint as no mention of a charge at re-provisioning on the new iPhone, EE said that because 'I had changed SIM's' there was a charge - they then pointed me to the T&Cs about 'lost SIM's'!
Needless to say I wasn't going anywhere without it being refunded, but seriously monetising everything...even without T&C's..
Monetising would be informing before or immediately after the order. Debiting £1.50 from a customer account in an unauthorized manner is theft.
 
I had an iPhone on eSIM with EE and was able to successfully transfer the eSIM to a new iPhone - however, later I discovered EE billed me £1.50.
Raised a complaint as no mention of a charge at re-provisioning on the new iPhone, EE said that because 'I had changed SIM's' there was a charge - they then pointed me to the T&Cs about 'lost SIM's'!
Needless to say I wasn't going anywhere without it being refunded, but seriously monetising everything...even without T&C's..

Out of interest, when was this? I transferred an EE eSIM between iPhones in June '22 and wasn't charged (nor did I expect to be).
 
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