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Telkom launches eSIMs but only for certain smartphones

Telkom has announced that it now supports the use of eSIMs by customers on its network.

Over the last few years with the advent of wearables that sport LTE connectivity, eSIMs have become rather popular and now South Africans have a bit more choice when it comes to choosing a network that supports the technology.

Telkom says that eSIMs are restricted to smartphones for now with support for wearables coming at a later stage.

“Historically, most of our customers have used traditional card Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs). These enable Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to identify a user and then to authenticate that the user is serviced by that MNO,” explains executive of Telkom’s product portfolio, Andrew Dawson.

“Going forward, Telkom will support eSIM enabled handsets. We will enable eSIM provisioning; a specification which allows consumers to activate the SIM embedded in their phone,” adds Dawson.

In order to use an eSIM, Telkom will sell an eSIM voucher package. Using an eSIM compatible smartphone, customers can scan the included QR code which will download the Telkom eSIM profile and install said profile onto the smartphone.

“Most customers will be able to have more than one SIM card; a dual SIM setup, as most eSIM enabled devices will still have a physical SIM slot available. Since eSIMs are embedded in devices, users can’t lose their SIMs and these eSIMs are more reliable than traditional physical SIM cards,” says Dawson.

At launch the following devices will be supported:

Apple

  • iPhone XS
  • iPhone XR
  • iPhone 11
  • iPhone 12
  • iPad (7th generation and higher).

Huawei

  • Mate 40
  • Mate 40 Pro
  • Mate 40 Pro+
  • P40
  • P40 Pro
  • P40 Pro+.

Samsung

  • Galaxy Note 20
  • Galaxy S21
  • Galaxy Z Fold2.

As mentioned, other devices and wearables will be supported at a later stage.

“eSIMs are an enhancement of Telkom’s SIM offering and no changes have been made to the provisioning process of mobile services for eSIM services. When provisioning mobile services with an eSIM, one must follow the normal activation process to activate a mobile service on an eSIM,” concludes Dawson.

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