eSIM: The Telecommunications Digital Onboarding Revolution

On the 9th of September, Apple made the announcement that the new iPhone 17 Air will not support physical SIM cards. Instead, Apple’s latest iPhone will use Apple’s virtual eSIM technology that the company has relied on in the US for years.¹

Apple’s announcement is among one of the various high profile pushes towards broader eSIM adoption in the telecommunications industry. In recent years, the telecommunications industry is being transformed by two converging trends: the accelerating adoption of eSIM technology and a shift towards digital-first customer onboarding. These trends are revolutionizing customer experiences, operations efficiency and can even lead to potential new revenue.

eSIM’s Definition and Why It Matters

An eSIM, or embedded SIM, is a digital SIM card embedded in devices such as smartphones, tablets, wearables, and IoT devices, eliminating the need for a physical SIM card.² Today, eSIMs can be activated by scanning a QR code or using in-app provisioning within a telco's mobile app, with the latter offering a more integrated, intuitive, and device-native experience.

eSIMs are riding an adoption wave, and are expected to have double digit growth. According to the iMarc Group, the global eSIM market was valued at USD 11.93 billion in 2024 and is expected to reach USD 45.39 billion by 2033, indicating a compound annual growth rate of 14.29 percent. North America currently leads the market, holding a significant share of over 40.2 percent in 2024.³ This dominance is largely due to early adoption of 5G technology, high smartphone penetration, a strong presence of telecom giants, and favorable regulatory support. 

eSIMs are riding an adoption wave led by some of the world’s largest economies, although adoption patterns can vary by region. In North America, the arrival of eSIM-only handsets has standardized digital activation, as shown by Apple’s September 2025 announcement. In Europe, widespread availability creates competitive pressure to accelerate entitlement deployment. Advanced 5G markets in the Asia Pacific are experiencing strong growth in eSIM usage, while Greater China and other regions are likely to increase rapidly as ecosystem conditions improve.⁴

The travel sector is another major driver of this shift. Juniper Research forecasts that the number of travel eSIM users will surge by 440 percent from 2024 to 2028, rising from 40 million to 215 million users. Average data costs for eSIMs are projected to be 35 percent lower than traditional roaming charges, at $5.50 per GB compared to $8.57 per GB.⁵

All these are driving greater eSIM adoption in the global telecommunications market. eSIMs also promise to revolutionize customers’ digital onboarding journeys and have various benefits for telco players as well.

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The Digital Onboarding Revolution

Transformative Benefits of eSIM and Digital Onboarding

The eSIM digital shift aligns with growing consumer demand for quick, simple, and personalized mobile experiences. It allows telcos to meet customer needs faster while achieving greater agility and scalability in a few ways:

Enhanced Customer Experience: 

Digital onboarding powered by eSIMs provides instant activation without physical contact, reducing the cumbersome processes of visiting stores and handling physical SIM cards. The activation and plan customization processes can be done in real-time anytime, anywhere. Customers can activate a plan within minutes, directly on their device, which positively impacts Net Promoter Scores (NPS) and customer loyalty.

Circles.Life offers a seamless eSIM in-app activation experience through its ‘Jetpac’ brand, allowing customers to download and activate eSIM profiles instantly without needing a secondary device or physical SIM. This streamlined onboarding has boosted their customer satisfaction and NPS scores.⁶
 

Operational Efficiency: 

Telecom operators adopting digital onboarding channels reduce costs related to producing and distributing physical SIM cards and managing retail stores. For instance, 40 percent of operators who are leveraging digital onboarding are optimistic about savings in logistics and onboarding costs, such as the reduced need to supply physical SIM cards.⁷

Vodafone has highlighted "Cost Efficiency" as a key benefit of its eSIM solutions, particularly for enterprise customers. By eliminating physical SIM cards for large workforces, the company reduces the administrative overhead of managing, distributing, and replacing thousands of cards. This also cuts down on support calls related to lost or damaged SIMs.⁸

New Revenue Streams: 

Flexible pricing models and on-demand connectivity plans flourish, capturing new segments like digital nomads, IoT device users, and intermittent mobile users with subscription or pay-as-you-go services. Roland Berger’s research survey highlighted that telcos foresee the following revenue-side benefits from eSIM adoption:

One example of a new revenue stream is the Orange Travel service to specifically capture the "digital nomad" and "intermittent mobile user" segments. It offers on-demand prepaid eSIM plans for travel to over 200 destinations, a flexible pay-as-you-go model that exists entirely separate from its standard monthly subscription plans.⁹

Target Demographics for eSIM adoption

On top of digital nomads that telco players like Orange are targeting, telco players can expand their eSIM target audiences to other demographics and use cases:

These drivers and opportunities are also leading to eSIM adoption around the world too.

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Proof of eSIM Adoption Across Global Markets

Outside of USA and Europe, eSIM adoption is ramping up, putting pressure on telco laggards to consider accelerating eSIM rollouts:

Last but not least, according to GSMA Intelligence, more than two-thirds of carriers worldwide provide eSIM connections for smartphones. Numerous operators are shifting toward digital-only operations, incorporating eSIM download, activation, and identity verification in one app, reducing onboarding times from days to minutes while offering fully remote experiences.⁴

For telcos that have not yet rolled out eSIM adoption, it’s best to be aware of some of the pitfalls of eSIM implementation that need to be addressed.

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Challenges of eSIM implementation

Implementing eSIM technology is a major step for telecom operators, but it comes with significant challenges. Understanding these barriers to this undertaking will improve the chances of a successful eSIM rollout.

Resistance to Change Away From Traditional ‘Cash Cows’

One major hurdle is the inherent resistance from stakeholders in traditional telecom players and device manufacturers who wish to keep the status quo. Current business models often rely on revenue from physical SIM card sales and long-term contracts. eSIM disrupts this by giving customers more control to switch providers easily, threatening subscriber retention and profitability.

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Regulatory Complexity

The regulatory landscape for eSIM is fragmented with varying standards and certification processes worldwide. While GSMA’s SGP.31 and SGP.32 frameworks provide a foundation for harmonization, eSIM deployments still need to align with varying carrier APIs, certification schemes, and audit paths.¹¹

This inconsistency makes launching eSIM services challenging, as operators must navigate different compliance requirements for devices, eSIM profiles, and subscription management systems.

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High Initial Investment and Technology Integration

Implementing eSIM demands significant upfront investments in technology and systems. Unlike physical SIM provisioning, eSIM requires virtual profile management, remote provisioning, and new backend integrations. Existing SIM-centric processes and legacy IT systems may not easily support these digital operations, leading to slow, complex upgrades.

Overcoming these challenges can open the door to new opportunities for telcos worldwide.

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Looking Ahead

As more device makers, like Apple, embrace eSIM technology, telcos must update their digital onboarding strategies or risk being left behind by competitors and changing consumer expectations. 

The eSIM digital onboarding revolution is gearing up to fundamentally change onboarding journeys, operator economics and the global telco landscape. Operators who embrace these technologies can look forward to new customer segments they can target, richer revenue streams, and future-proof their networks against evolving connectivity demands.

When it comes to handling the challenges highlighted above, working with experienced partners can help your organization identify and overcome pitfalls to planning, and also successfully reach new target markets. 

Circles is uniquely positioned to support telcos in navigating and capitalizing on the eSIM and digital onboarding revolution. The Circles SaaS platform provides comprehensive digital customer lifecycle management solutions, enabling operators to seamlessly implement digital onboarding workflows tailored for eSIM activation, thereby reducing time-to-service and enhancing the customer experience. 

Circles also leverages advanced analytics and AI to personalize service plans, predict churn risk, optimize subscriber engagement, and offer innovative product bundling and digital-first customer journeys that drive conversion and loyalty in growing eSIM markets.

By partnering with Circles, your telco can accelerate its digital transformation agenda to unlock new operational efficiencies and sources of value from eSIM adoption. With successful rollouts with Povo’s and Circles’ Jetpac eSIM rollouts, Circles has a proven track record of delivering the expertise and SaaS solutions your telco needs in the eSIM era.

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