[r1ch]

> eSIMs are a massive win when travelling, too

My experience with this was very disappointing. I decided to buy an eSIM at the airport while my friend opted for a physical SIM. He was done in 30 seconds, meanwhile I was struggling to find an open Wi-Fi network since provisioning apparently requires internet access. Then my device took almost 5 minutes "setting up" before I was online. Until an eSIM can be provisioned without internet access I don't see how it's a better experience than a physical SIM.

[vanilla_nut]

Great point. I'd love to see eSIMs managed via an open standard over NFC, phone-to-phone or POS-to-phone to "simulate" the transferability of physical SIMs without the tiny piece of plastic.

But until then, I'm avoiding eSIMs entirely. I used to have a CDMA Verizon iPhone back in the day, and every time I switched to or from it (it eventually became my backup phone) I had to call Verizon to beg them to move my number between phones. Slow, annoying, and error-prone: I ended up with no usable phone more than once.

And now a lot of carriers are charging $15-30 "activation fees" in the US every time you set up an eSIM on a phone. No thank you.

[jen20]

Hopefully this will fall under the junk fee act proposed by Biden. Telcos are among the worst offenders and deserve nothing less than corporate euthanasia.