E-sim cards for phones. When?

[organist500]

When is O2 going to FINALLY do E-sims? I'm getting tired of waiting

[Anonymous]

@organist500  E-sim was due for iOS 12 roll out but @Chris_K will know 

[PhoneChanger]

Considering they now to do the Apple Watch, hopefully it won't be too long until they support it on the iPhone.

[Chris_K]

We do plan to bring eSim to more devices in the future but don't currently have any further info or ETA on this. As and when there's any news to share on this, we'll let everyone know.

[liggerz87]

Hey @Chris_K do you think you could do like an article about it and how is works

[organist500]

Planning to bring e-sims to more devices is frustratingly vague. Doesn’t O2 have a research and development department working on this who will be able to give a definite date? Can’t you at least ask around? After all, if no one knows, then it’s not going to happen any time soon.

[MI5]

I'm afraid that's the standard answer for these things from O2.
Most of us have stopped asking / expecting and just accept that it comes when it comes.
If you want innovation, you are with the wrong network these days unfortunately.

[Chris_K]

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@organist500 wrote:
Planning to bring e-sims to more devices is frustratingly vague. Doesn’t O2 have a research and development department working on this who will be able to give a definite date? Can’t you at least ask around? After all, if no one knows, then it’s not going to happen any time soon.

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Unfortunately I can't go into any specifics, but it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that launching an eSIM platform is no easy or straight forward task. SIM cards themselves have been pretty much the same for around 20 years - all that's really changed is the physical size of the card. Physical SIM cards are woven into almost every customer journey we have, and one of our tasks is to ensure the eSIM journey can complement these existing journeys - because for the next several years at least, physical SIM and eSIM will need to co-exist. 
 
Launching this new technology for a new product category like Apple Watch was extremely challenging, requiring many new processes, and updates to existing ones. Doing the same for an existing product category like mobile phones, that impacts many millions of customers, is even more complex - particularly when trying to ensure a high quality and fault-free experience. 
 
That said, the teams at O2 involved have worked tirelessly on all the technologies needed to make the eSIM platform fully integrated, and though it works perfectly on Apple Watch, we're not yet at the stage where we can support a wider deployment of the technology. There are other pieces of the puzzle we're working on (and have been for a long time - but as I said, eSIM is a massively complicated technology to get done right) to ensure customers have the best possible experience. I know customers like yourself have been waiting patiently for eSIM to come to other devices like iPhone XS or Pixel, but I assure you we are not idly sitting and watching the world go by... I'm sorry we can't share any specific dates or further info, but with how complicated this technology is, it's just not something we can give any specifics on until we're confident and closer to the time. 
 
I promise, as and when there's anything we can share, we absolutely will – but until then, there’s really not a lot more we can say or divulge I’m afraid. 

[davethorp]

Purely speculation but I'd expect this from O2 in the next year or so

I'm basing this off Apple Watch launches which also use eSIM technology and the following timeline

September 2017 - Apple Watch series 3 launches with eSIM capability on EE only

September 2018 - Apple Watch series 4 launches. Vodafone join EE as eSIM compatible carriers

November 2018 - iOS 12.1 released. EE enable eSIM capability on iPhone XS (Max) and XR

June 2019 - O2 start selling cellular Apple Watches

Again I'm speculating so take with a huge pinch of salt but I'd expect Vodafone to start doing phone eSIMs probably when the next iPhones and watches are announced in September. O2 I'd expect to join the phone eSIM party either then or at some other point in the next 12 months. I'd also expect 3 to join the Apple Watch party at some point sooner rather than later and offer phone eSIMs either at the same time or a few months after

[organist500]

OK, thank you for your reply. Appreciated.