e-SIM Technology

In News 

The eSIM (or embedded SIM) is quickly becoming mainstream due  to fitness-oriented smartwatches and smartphones.

What is an eSIM?

• An eSIM is an embedded SIM, essentially the same hardware of a regular SIM card chip, but now a permanently embedded part of the motherboard of a watch or smartphone.
• eSIMs were first established a decade ago in 2012, but despite their futuristic use-cases, have not completely made physical SIMs obsolete yet. 

Advantages of eSIMs

• Convenience: It will also save a trip to a telecom store/ service centre when you visit a different state or country where you may want to switch to another operator. 
• Security: When a  phone with a physical SIM card is lost or stolen ,the SIM card can be used in  illegal activities .
  • An eSIM prevents this, as there is no physical element to pull out and use in another device.
• One less opening on your phone: Having an eSIM also means there is one less opening on the frame of your phone, in theory, which should reduce the likelihood of elements like dust and water entering the phone from yet another slot. 

Disadvantages of eSIMs

• Emergencies: Traditional SIMs  can be quickly pulled out of the affected/Damaged  phone and into another backup device or secondary phone.
  • It is not possible  with eSIMs..

• Unusable in countries with no eSIM support: It can not be used in a country where the telecom operators simply don’t support the technology yet. 
  • Support only available in premium phones: In India, eSIM support is currently available on more expensive devices like the Apple iPhones, Google Pixel series etc .

Source:IE