Apple’s iPhone 14 eSIM replacement has small carriers. Hopefully the switch will be easier

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of Apple embracing virtual, built-in SIM cards in the iPhone 14 line — the removal of the SIM card slot for US models — has led some online to worry that switching carriers will become much more difficult. However, smaller carriers like Mint Mobile, US Mobile and Boost Mobile see it the other way around.

“Mint has always believed in digital technologies that enhance and facilitate wireless services,” Aaron North, Mint Mobile’s chief marketing officer, said in a statement to CNET. “The Mint was supportive [the] eSIM for almost two years, because even then we knew that this innovation would allow users to switch faster and easier.”

Apple has supported digital SIM cards dating back to the iPhone XS, XS Max and XR of 2018. Last year’s iPhone 13 line extended this support and allowed multiple eSIMs to be activated at once, allowing customers to easily switch carriers or use multiple phone numbers, for example for work and personal use.

Although a physical SIM card slot won’t be included in US iPhones, international phones will still have a physical SIM card slot.

“I think it’s transformative,” Ahmed Khattak, founder and CEO of US Mobile, a mobile virtual network operator that offers service on the respective networks of Verizon and T-Mobile. “I think the fact that it even happened … I’m shaking my head … because it really democratizes connectivity.”

“I didn’t expect them [would] just cold-bloodedly on physical SIM cards,” he adds. “The fact that they just got rid of it like the headphone jacks is surprising.”

Boost Mobile CEO Stephen Stokols believes eSIM technology makes it easier to switch providers. Boost Mobile uses a combination of AT&T, T-Mobile and parent Dish’s wireless networks. Once a Sprint brand, it became part of Dish as result of T-Mobile’s merger with Sprint in 2020as the satellite TV provider is now in the process of becoming a fourth network option to rival AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon.

Later this year Dish will start offering Boost Infinite, a wireless service that looks set to compete more directly with the big three carriers. Having an easier way to get customers to switch networks could be key to its ability to grow.

No different than signing up for Netflix

A physical SIM card, Stokols says, usually takes a few days to arrive if ordered online. Customers must then insert the SIM card into their phone and go through an activation process. With eSIM, he says activation and transfer can be done “instantly” at the time of purchase.

“It’s a lot like software… It’s literally ‘sign up online and activate.’ Not unlike [when] signing up for Netflix.”

Khattak has nearly 250,000 subscribers to its US Mobile service, with a third of its customers using eSIMs today.

“It’s easier for you to move in, it’s easier for you to move out,” he says. “I think the reason people think it’s not that easy is because most carriers have made it very difficult” to switch in the past. “But I think if you try it… you realize it’s that easy.”

Khattak says the process could potentially take “less than a minute to get your device to us.” If you want to leave, it can similarly take “less than a minute to cancel your phone number” and transfer it to someone else, known as “porting”.

He notes that the porting process is largely the same via eSIM as it was with physical SIMs, but because you don’t have to wait for the physical SIM to show up, it can go faster, resulting in potentially more -hassle-free experience. You don’t have to deal with figuring out what size SIM card fits in your phone, when to insert it during activation, or having to search for 16- or 17-digit numbers to enter on a website or repeat on customer service representative to activate the physical SIM cards.

Khattak predicts that over the next few years, the “end result” of the move to eSIM technology will see people “buying their mobile phone connection from app stores rather than local stores”.

All three major US carriers support eSIM. Some, like T-Mobile, are even using the technology to offer free trials of their networks as a way to lure customers away from competitors.

Last month, it expanded the program, now called Network Pass, to allow three free months of T-Mobile service. Using eSIM, the virtual SIM card is downloaded from the T-Mobile app and is designed to co-exist with your current carrier to allow you to see if T-Mobile’s network performs as well as or exceeds what a competitor can offer. Your phone will need to be unlocked to participate, but the company doesn’t run a credit check or even remove a credit card number.

If you want to switch, the app will guide you through the process. If you want to stay with your current provider, you can simply delete the eSIM in your phone’s Settings app.

US Mobile and Verizon-owned Visible offer similar free trial programs for apps that use eSIMs to let you try out their respective networks.

Growing pains are expected

While there is a lot of optimism from some smaller wireless players about the future, some wireless observers foresee several potential problems with the transition. For one thing, finding out who accepts eSIM is not easy. Apple has a list of eSIM-ready wireless carriers on its website, but as of this writing, it only includes 39 networks and is still missing some MVNOs, including US Mobile.

“In the short term, there will be a lot of difficulty as operators streamline the conversion process from physical SIM cards,” Avi Greengart, an analyst at research firm Techsponential, told CNET. “Things are getting confusing,” he says, noting that there are issues with MVNOs that don’t currently support eSIMs, and potentially the process of transferring from an eSIM to a physical SIM card if you need to go back to an older device.

However, Greengart sees advantages in the technology, especially when it comes to flexibility for users to choose network providers, switch between networks and manage multiple phone lines on a single account.

“I think in the short term there will be some pain, and in the long term I think it will actually be OK.”