eSIMs: The Future of Cellular Connectivity

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Maybe in the year 2018 or by the end of 2019, there would be no SIM tray ejection pins that we are using right now to eject the SIM tray for inserting the SIM card on the phone.

Why?

Because of eSIM. With the launch of the new Apple Watch 3, the world got to see something new in consumer technology and that is eSIM. At the Apple event at Steve Jobs Theatre, the new Apple Watch 3 was announced with an inbuilt eSIM that enables the Cellular network for calling & SMS in the Apple Watch 3.

Like Apple Watch 3, recently Google also launched the Google Pixel 2 using the same eSIM technology that is only if you purchase Pixel 2 on Project Fi otherwise, it is using the traditional SIM card.

By now, you already got the point that eSIM is not like Elon Musk’s far future plan on making Humanity a multi-planetary species but it is already in the market. Right now, Apple Watch 3 and Pixel 2 XL are the only two devices that are close to the consumers. Otherwise, there are a lot of cars that are using eSIM technology to track the car’s position and to provide the connectivity feature while on the road. BMW uses eSIM to offer its ConnectedDrive feature in most of their cars.

What is eSIM?

SIM is the acronym of Subscriber Identity Module and its job is to connect the user to the cellular network for calling and data usage. When we buy a new phone, we popped out the SIM card tray, puts the SIM card and are done, we are connected with the world.

While eSIM stands for Embedded Subscriber Identity Module. eSIM is an inbuilt microchip that is embedded on the mainboard of the device which enables the cellular network for the device. eSIM does exactly what SIM cards are doing for us right now but in a new way. eSIMs are rewritable just like NFC chips. We can use NFC for a couple of operations regardless of type and brand of service. Like that, eSIM can also be operational and would be compatible with different network operators.

Source

As I said before, Smartphones are not the only devices that are coming up with eSIM. Some of Smart home devices and cars are also coming up with eSIM. eSIM is a very fast and convenient way for a manufacturer to get data about the user. You see, how new electric cars are coming up every year and to make Electric cars even more future-proof, eSIMs are going to play a bigger role in providing connectivity to these cars. Electric Car giant, Tesla has some of the most advanced electric vehicles right now and in the future, they are going to be even more intelligent. BMW uses eSIM in their electric cars that are in BMW i8 and in BMW i3 for a couple of smart safety features & for ConnectedDrive.

Apart from Cars, some of Smart Home devices also uses eSIM for connectivity & safety purposes.

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Benefits of eSIMs

eSIM is indeed beneficial for both the user and the manufacturer. For a person who is a traveler or an entrepreneur who is cracking deals in every corner of the world, eSIM I guess is the most convenient way to remain connected in any city or even country. They don’t need to swap the SIM card for every new country. There should be some international standards of getting a cellular network connection on an eSIM in every corner of the world.

Moreover, for not-so-travelers, eSIM still are a beneficial update as you don’t need to do extra efforts of ejecting SIM trays again and again for changing your Cellular Network. No, I am not talking about you or about any tech-savvy who knows how to change SIM cards. Ask your parents or grandparents to change the SIM card of the phone and see their freak-out faces. Moreover, no more lost SIM complaints.

From the manufacturer’s point of view, eSIM can be a game-changing update. You see, how smartphones are getting thinner and more compact. With the new trend of Edge-to-Edge displays, it became even more crucial for the manufacturer to preserve the space that can add more value to the design & features of the phone. That is why Apple opt for eSIM which indeed adds up to a great feature for a user without sacrificing the design of the Watch.

As eSIM is embedded on the mainboard of the device, so there would be a lot of hardware that can be easily removed from the phone which will definitely be going to help the manufacturer in giving a better design to the device. Apart from design, a manufacturer can get some realistic data from the users’ devices which can be useful in improving the all-over quality of the service.

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Problems with eSIM

There are flaws in everything and that rule is also applicable to eSIM. eSIM is embedded within the board which means you have to do some extra efforts to activate the services. Traditional SIM gets activated as soon as it gets power but eSIM needs to be activated. For that, you may have to contact your Cellular Network Provider every time you wanted to do some activation or deactivation of the services. It would be great if network providers came up with their own Apps for monitoring the activated services or deactivated services.

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Moreover, as eSIM technology is yet to be adopted that is why smartphone manufacturers and cellular provider have to do some of the behind-the-scenes tasks to give a hassle-free user experience. There are also a lot of political barriers connected with cellular network companies and it will definitely be going to take some time to overcome those barriers.

eSIM: The Future of Cellular Network

That is all for now about eSIM. eSIM is not a new technology but for many consumers, it is indeed a new technology as there are very few devices using eSIM technology. With Apple Watch 3 and Google Pixel 2, eSIM are coming into notice and getting closer to consumers. Still, there are a lot of things to come with eSIM. But, one thing is sure and that is eSIM is the future of the cellular network and we are going to miss that plastic card in the future. So, start collecting it.