Ditch Your SIM card
Is it time to eject that little plastic chip from your mobile once and for all? Jonathan Parkyn explains how to save money by switching to an eSIM
SIM cards have been with us for almost as long as mobile phones themselves. They store information about your network account, including your phone number and your subscriber identity. eSIMs (short for embedded Subscriber Identity Module) perform exactly the same function, except that the data is programmed into a chip that’s already soldered on to the circuit board inside your mobile device, rather than coming printed on a physical SIM card that needs to be slotted into your phone. eSIMs are far from new – in fact, they’ve been available for about a decade.
And now they’re surging in popularity as more manufacturers and networks start supporting the technology – and the consumers become wise to the fact that eSIMs can slash your mobile-data bills.
We touched upon eSIMs back in our Cover Feature in Issue 690 (‘Cancel your phone contract’ – buy a back issue from www.snipca.com/52700), but here we’ll go into more depth, explaining what they are, why you should consider one and how to get the best deals. We’ll also explain how to convert your current physical SIM card into an eSIM.
What are the advantages of eSIMs?
The benefits of using a digital SIM instead of a physical one might not be instantly obvious, but there are some notable advantages. If your phone is stolen, for example, the thieves won’t be able to access or clone an eSIM like they currently can with a traditional SIM card. Also, disabling or replacing an eSIM usually requires some kind of authorisation procedure, making it much harder for crooks to resell stolen devices and providing you with more time to track or wipe your phone remotely.