Esim

[Terence_1301762]

Is smarty ever going to get with the times and start eSIM or not, in the very near future.

I would prefer to stay with my plan but if smarty are not going to be a up to date provider I’ll just have to go through the process of the PAC transfer sooner rather than never.

[MSF]

@Terence_1301762 This topic has come up very frequently but there has been no definitive reply from Smarty.

In a reply to another thread recently I wondered whether there was some associated cost that they needed to balance against the potential loss of customers who insist on an sim. Bear in mind that for many people, an sim is either of no use or else not considered essential.

[Lordvega]

I hope so, as I’d be interested in trying Smarty as Lyca on EE has no WiFi calling and no VoLTE!

[emontes]

Past time SMARTY offer eSIMs.

[JJP2RidesAgain]

I use eSIMs extensively at home and abroad, on both foreign networks and with services like Airalo. 

What is the big deal with them, why are you so keen to use them ? Both physical and eSIMs work exactly the same, there are “no bonus features”  that eSIM has over physical sims. 

[Omniposcope]

It's not about bonus features, it's because some devices either don't support physical SIMs at all  or only support one physical SIM and one eSIM. 

[JJP2RidesAgain]

That’s not true, certainly in the UK, where all devices available still use physical SIM cards.

In the USA, iPhones from the 14 series do not have physical SIM card slots, being eSIM only, but again, that’s in the USA, not here in the UK…

[Omniposcope]

I was referring to LTE enabled Smart Watches, which only support eSIMs.

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Even if Smarty did support esim, that doesn’t necessarily mean they will support smart watches.

GiffGaff, LycaMobile, Spusu and Voxi are UK MVNO’s that currently support eSIM, but none of those four MVNOs currently support smartwatches. 

it’s doubtful that UK MVNO’s will ever support esims for cellular watches because they have to be on a paired contract so that the phone number for the watch matches the one on the sim in your phone.

So this is supported by adding addons to post paid contracts  (which MVNOs don’t support) so esims for watches are only supported by the MNOs.

So it’s very doubtful that any UK MVNO will be able to support esims for cellular watches because the MNOs would need to provide them with the service of 2 sims with the same number.

If an eSIM for a smartwatch is that important to you, then you are going to have to pony up the cash to join EE, O2 or Vodafone, and pay an extra £10 a month for smart watch connectivity.

Having previously used EE and paying extra for smartwatch connectivity myself, the novelty soon wears off. Obviously though, it’s your money, your choice. 

So, don’t make the mistake of thinking that eSIM support automatically means smartwatch support, as it does not. 

[WelshPaul]

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@JJP2RidesAgain wrote:

it’s doubtful that UK MVNO’s will ever support esims for cellular watches because they have to be on a paired contract so that the phone number for the watch matches the one on the sim in your phone.

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Only applies to Apple smart watches. Other brands allow the installation of stand alone eSIM's just like a mobile phone.

[JJP2RidesAgain]

Do the networks support that ? If so, is the standalone eSIM the same number as the phone, or a separate number ?

[MSF]

@emontes  For what particular reason?

[emontes]

Edit: Double posted.