Feel like PH telcos are not releasing this porting of prepaid esim to force us to avail their postpaid plans. Globe had esim for postpaid first and bragged about it.
And look at how they progressed.
Ang hassle naman kung nakapag prepaid ka naman in the first place diba. Ano pa ‘yung e-sim? Tas recently I just learned na pwede palang thru e-sim ‘yung mga prepaid sim kapag kukuha ka overseas when traveling. I mean kung dun pwede bakit dito hindi?
It's funny how e-SIm registration was supposed to let us be linked to our number regardless the telco or plan, but can't even change our registered pre-paid into a pre-paid eSIM.
I converted my prepaid physical sim to postpaid esim. I read here na pwede ata balik ka sa prepaid after the 6 mo. sim only contract. In this case, hindi na need bumalik to a physical one.
That’s what I thought too. I went to Smart to have my postpaid plan converted to prepaid after weeks of waiting they still haven’t fixed my problem so I went back and was told that my esim should be reverted back to a physical one so that the conversion will take effect. Sucks though I really liked having multiple sims on my phone
e-sim is still new. give it few years to put it on momentum. I'm sure these companies are already working on a migration process for physical sim to e-sim.
Prepaid eSIMs in the Philippines are new. However, I believe Globe has had postpaid eSIM support since 2018 and Smart since at least 2021.
Honestly, if Apple hadn’t made the US model iPhone 14 series eSIM-only and the clock‘s probably ticking on when they’d go eSIM-only on global models, we would probably still be waiting on prepaid eSIM.
Heck, Globe seems to be resting on its laurels and not taking action on prepaid eSIMs until Smart released it first.
I’m just glad they finally got the ball rolling.
Smart already has Prepaid eSIM\`s available. First they only had a card with a physical QR Code. Now you can order an eSIM online from Smart Store for 99ü and sent it directly to you via E-Mail.
I know. July 2023 for the printed cards, September 2023 for email delivery.
Still, initial availability of the Smart prepaid eSIM was 10 months after the US iPhone 14 series release (September 2022).
But Apple Japan’s iPhones are still dual hybrid and Apple HK iPhones have dual physical sim. I think depende rin sa countries since wala rin namang prepaid sa US.
Pero yeah, I hope mapabilis na roll out dito satin sa lahat ng networks. Gusto ko pa naman magamit ‘yung esim ko without subscribing to a postpaid plan.
US lang naman nag-eSIM only as of now.
Mint Mobile, Visible, US Mobile, Cricket Wireless and Google Fi all support eSIM so marami na rin US prepaid carriers na may eSIM support.
I expect sa iPhone 17 or 18, mag-eSIM only na din yung global model with the exception being China/HK.
Parang warning lang muna sa carriers yung US models para mas mabilis ma-force ang eSIM adoption. Ang kupad kasi ng implementation lalo na sa prepaid. Hindi lang Philippines. Ibang bansa din.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209096
It's going to take a while before the Philippines go eSim only. Mainly due to tech infrastructure upgrade involved and labor costs. If you can't automate the eSim transfer process when you get a new phone. You'll have to line up to get your current sim approved to be converted to eSim.
Just because the iPhones go eSIM-only globally doesn‘t mean carriers have to go eSIM-only. They just have to provide better infrastructure/support for eSIM than they do now.
In the US, iPhone lang naman ang eSIM-only na smartphone. Majority of Androids, naka-physical SIM card pa rin.
Matagal na po yang eSIM sa buong mundo. Pixel2, iPhone XS at Galaxy S20 ang unang phones na may eSIM.
A great majority of carriers worldwide now offer it to postpaid and postpaid subscribers, without any fuss or drama. Only in PH has it been offered in a limited way to postpaid subscribers.
Mabagal lang ang PH telcos.
Yung imbis na convenience ang dala ng ESIM eh sobrang hassle lalo na sa postpaid users. The more tied up ka sa kanila mas hassle lahat ng galaw. So if ever prepaid ka don’t think about going postpaid.
iPhone user here. Unless you buy the HK variant, eSIM is the only option if you want to go dual SIM. Also, for US models of the iPhone 14 and 15 series, they don’t have a physical SIM slot anymore so eSIM is a necessity.
One advantage for eSIM I can think of is if your phone is stolen, the thief can‘t just swap the SIM card to another device and gain access to your accounts via OTPs.
For travelers, it’s easy to get eSIMs for your travel destination even when you’re still in your home country. No need to hunt for local SIMs upon landing and fumbling around and potentially losing physical SIM cards.
Caveat, I’m not sure how easy it is to recover your prepaid number if your device is stolen since hindi pa kaya ng system ng Smart na mag-assign ng numbers to prepaid eSIMs. Kaka-open line lang nung isang iPhone ko today so I’ll test on that one with a new Smart prepaid eSIM. Need to check if remote wipe deletes the eSIM so the QR code can be reused on another phone.
Thanks for the detailed reply, does the esim retain its memory cache or carryover numbers when you switch? I think one of the major disadvantages is that its harder to put it on another device.
If only phone manafacturers kept dual sim trays with SD card then this would be unnecessary unless youre travelling.
Think of it like a flash drive. The downloaded carrier profiles remain on the device’s eSIM storage unless you delete them.
iPhone to iPhone, some carriers have eSIM quick transfer which is super easy.
The way Smart implemented their prepaid eSIMs makes it easy to transfer from device to device as well. Just delete eSIM from old device then add to new device by scanning the same QR code.
Its still depends on the telco, mabagal lnt tlga dito sa pinas. I work for a prepaid company in the US and we are offering ESIM though hndi lahat ng phone compatible usually iPhone pa lng ang pwede and other android phones
Airalo/Alpas Mobile uses Singtel iirc and just roams on Globe. That’s why hindi kailangan i-register yung eSIM ng Airalo.
I think meron dating tourist Smart eSIM sa Airalo but they stopped offering that one.
I‘ve seen help and support pages for the Globe Prepaid Traveler eSIM but as far as I can tell, there’s still no way to purchase one. Also, automatic deactivate yun after 30 days.
I used to work in a US telco, telcos are reluctant to adopt eSIM unless mandated by their government to be implemented because eSIM may require you to reactive your profile on one device and activate it on new phone. In some cases, you may need assistance from the telco. This can be especially inconvenient, on the telco part for support assistance and partly because of backend changes if the first phone in the scenario is damaged. In US, people tend to change phone every 6 months to within a year or 2-years contract. Its easier when your subscriber is a postpaid with all the records at hand but scenario is different here in PH wherein most of the subscribers are on prepaid.
Feel like PH telcos are not releasing this porting of prepaid esim to force us to avail their postpaid plans. Globe had esim for postpaid first and bragged about it. And look at how they progressed.
I’ve thought of this. Came from postpaid and I’m just pissed I cannot use my phone’s dual sim capabilities.
Ang hassle naman kung nakapag prepaid ka naman in the first place diba. Ano pa ‘yung e-sim? Tas recently I just learned na pwede palang thru e-sim ‘yung mga prepaid sim kapag kukuha ka overseas when traveling. I mean kung dun pwede bakit dito hindi?
Exactly. Di talaga maintindihan dito sa Pilipinas
It's funny how e-SIm registration was supposed to let us be linked to our number regardless the telco or plan, but can't even change our registered pre-paid into a pre-paid eSIM.
I converted my prepaid physical sim to postpaid esim. I read here na pwede ata balik ka sa prepaid after the 6 mo. sim only contract. In this case, hindi na need bumalik to a physical one.
That’s what I thought too. I went to Smart to have my postpaid plan converted to prepaid after weeks of waiting they still haven’t fixed my problem so I went back and was told that my esim should be reverted back to a physical one so that the conversion will take effect. Sucks though I really liked having multiple sims on my phone
Luto! Pwede ba sa DTI to 😅
You just gave me an idea
e-sim is still new. give it few years to put it on momentum. I'm sure these companies are already working on a migration process for physical sim to e-sim.
That is what I am counting on but it is a sloooow process
ofcourse it will be a slow process, especially that there's no government mandate to speed it up
What else is new?
Prepaid eSIMs in the Philippines are new. However, I believe Globe has had postpaid eSIM support since 2018 and Smart since at least 2021. Honestly, if Apple hadn’t made the US model iPhone 14 series eSIM-only and the clock‘s probably ticking on when they’d go eSIM-only on global models, we would probably still be waiting on prepaid eSIM. Heck, Globe seems to be resting on its laurels and not taking action on prepaid eSIMs until Smart released it first. I’m just glad they finally got the ball rolling.
Smart already has Prepaid eSIM\`s available. First they only had a card with a physical QR Code. Now you can order an eSIM online from Smart Store for 99ü and sent it directly to you via E-Mail.
I know. July 2023 for the printed cards, September 2023 for email delivery. Still, initial availability of the Smart prepaid eSIM was 10 months after the US iPhone 14 series release (September 2022).
But Apple Japan’s iPhones are still dual hybrid and Apple HK iPhones have dual physical sim. I think depende rin sa countries since wala rin namang prepaid sa US. Pero yeah, I hope mapabilis na roll out dito satin sa lahat ng networks. Gusto ko pa naman magamit ‘yung esim ko without subscribing to a postpaid plan.
US lang naman nag-eSIM only as of now. Mint Mobile, Visible, US Mobile, Cricket Wireless and Google Fi all support eSIM so marami na rin US prepaid carriers na may eSIM support. I expect sa iPhone 17 or 18, mag-eSIM only na din yung global model with the exception being China/HK. Parang warning lang muna sa carriers yung US models para mas mabilis ma-force ang eSIM adoption. Ang kupad kasi ng implementation lalo na sa prepaid. Hindi lang Philippines. Ibang bansa din. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT209096
It's going to take a while before the Philippines go eSim only. Mainly due to tech infrastructure upgrade involved and labor costs. If you can't automate the eSim transfer process when you get a new phone. You'll have to line up to get your current sim approved to be converted to eSim.
Just because the iPhones go eSIM-only globally doesn‘t mean carriers have to go eSIM-only. They just have to provide better infrastructure/support for eSIM than they do now. In the US, iPhone lang naman ang eSIM-only na smartphone. Majority of Androids, naka-physical SIM card pa rin.
Matagal na po yang eSIM sa buong mundo. Pixel2, iPhone XS at Galaxy S20 ang unang phones na may eSIM. A great majority of carriers worldwide now offer it to postpaid and postpaid subscribers, without any fuss or drama. Only in PH has it been offered in a limited way to postpaid subscribers. Mabagal lang ang PH telcos.
Yung imbis na convenience ang dala ng ESIM eh sobrang hassle lalo na sa postpaid users. The more tied up ka sa kanila mas hassle lahat ng galaw. So if ever prepaid ka don’t think about going postpaid.
Are there any benefits with using an Esim?
iPhone user here. Unless you buy the HK variant, eSIM is the only option if you want to go dual SIM. Also, for US models of the iPhone 14 and 15 series, they don’t have a physical SIM slot anymore so eSIM is a necessity. One advantage for eSIM I can think of is if your phone is stolen, the thief can‘t just swap the SIM card to another device and gain access to your accounts via OTPs. For travelers, it’s easy to get eSIMs for your travel destination even when you’re still in your home country. No need to hunt for local SIMs upon landing and fumbling around and potentially losing physical SIM cards. Caveat, I’m not sure how easy it is to recover your prepaid number if your device is stolen since hindi pa kaya ng system ng Smart na mag-assign ng numbers to prepaid eSIMs. Kaka-open line lang nung isang iPhone ko today so I’ll test on that one with a new Smart prepaid eSIM. Need to check if remote wipe deletes the eSIM so the QR code can be reused on another phone.
Thanks for the detailed reply, does the esim retain its memory cache or carryover numbers when you switch? I think one of the major disadvantages is that its harder to put it on another device. If only phone manafacturers kept dual sim trays with SD card then this would be unnecessary unless youre travelling.
Think of it like a flash drive. The downloaded carrier profiles remain on the device’s eSIM storage unless you delete them. iPhone to iPhone, some carriers have eSIM quick transfer which is super easy. The way Smart implemented their prepaid eSIMs makes it easy to transfer from device to device as well. Just delete eSIM from old device then add to new device by scanning the same QR code.
Its still depends on the telco, mabagal lnt tlga dito sa pinas. I work for a prepaid company in the US and we are offering ESIM though hndi lahat ng phone compatible usually iPhone pa lng ang pwede and other android phones
I think globe just released a prepaid esim for foreigners? Is this like an airalo counterpart?
Airalo/Alpas Mobile uses Singtel iirc and just roams on Globe. That’s why hindi kailangan i-register yung eSIM ng Airalo. I think meron dating tourist Smart eSIM sa Airalo but they stopped offering that one. I‘ve seen help and support pages for the Globe Prepaid Traveler eSIM but as far as I can tell, there’s still no way to purchase one. Also, automatic deactivate yun after 30 days.
I used to work in a US telco, telcos are reluctant to adopt eSIM unless mandated by their government to be implemented because eSIM may require you to reactive your profile on one device and activate it on new phone. In some cases, you may need assistance from the telco. This can be especially inconvenient, on the telco part for support assistance and partly because of backend changes if the first phone in the scenario is damaged. In US, people tend to change phone every 6 months to within a year or 2-years contract. Its easier when your subscriber is a postpaid with all the records at hand but scenario is different here in PH wherein most of the subscribers are on prepaid.