Vodafone launches eSIM on primary device

The concept of eSIM was made popular by Apple. However, it was not available on Vodafone Idea up till now. Today the company announced the availability of eSIM for Vodafone postpaid customers. 

The drives that are currently compatible with eSIM include iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone SE, iPhone Xs, iPhone Xs Max. iPhone Xr, Samsung Galaxy Z Flip and Galaxy Fold. Vodafone is currently providing its services to the Apple devices but it will be soon extending to Samsung as well. Also, Vodafone's eSIM is currently available in select circles only and includes only Mumbai, Delhi and Gujrat. One would hope that they will expand this reach soon.   

For those unaware of how an eSIM works, customers using a handset that supports this feature will no longer be required to put in a physical SIM card to access the network. eSIM comes in the form of an integrated SIM chip which will be compliant with all the supported mobile network operators. The consumer will be able to carry out normal calling, SMS, data access and more without having to change physical SIM cards manually.

Speaking about the eSIM technology, Avneesh Khosla, Director – Marketing, Vodafone Idea, said, “Vodafone Idea is excited to introduce eSIM technology for our postpaid customers which enables them to enjoy the benefits of convenience and flexibility of having more than one sim even on single sim device. We therefore believe that eSIM will provide enhanced experience to our customers as it will enable them to do a lot more with their device.”

How to  get eSim on your phone

 Existing Customer

• Send SMS  to 199 by typing “eSIM <space> email id” (If no email id is registered with your mobile number, send SMS “email <space>email id” to  199. Post-registration you can reinitiate the eSIM process).
• If your email is valid, you will receive SMS from 199. You need to  reply back with ESIMY to confimeSIM request

Post your confirmation SMS, you will receive another SMS from 199 asking you to provide consent over a call

After providing your consent on the call, an email with a QR code will be sent to the registered email id.

Scan the QR Code:

• Apple device: Please make sure that the phone is connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data.
• Go to "Settings" > Select "Mobile Data" > Click on "Add Data Plan"
• Now "Scan QR code" received on mail.
• Follow the prompts on the phone.

New Customer

• Visit nearest Vodafone store with  proof of identity and photograph to get new Vodafone eSIM connection
• Is it preferred if you carry the handset along so that the QR code generated during the activation process can be scanned immediately

The QR code sent through email will only be useful for a single scan and the eSIM will be successfully activated within 2 hours post scanning the code.