Any possibility of Eir offering cellular eSIM capabilities for new Apple Watches?

brendandonlon

Hi folks at Eir - I’m a longtime business and personal customer at Eir (broadband / mobiles) - any plans for Eir to rollout eSIM support so new Apple Watch models can get access to data / calls without a paired phone?

eir: Sarah

Hi brendandonlon,

We actually received this query from another customer today and although we have no updates as of yet we are currently querying it therefore we'll update you if there are plans for this.

Thanks,

Sarah

corkpilot

eir: Sarah wrote: »

Hi brendandonlon,

We actually received this query from another customer today and although we have no updates as of yet we are currently querying it therefore we'll update you if there are plans for this.

Thanks,

Sarah

I'm also waiting for some provider to offer Apple Watch cellular service.  Am surprised it hasn't happened yet.  Whoever is first is going to get some good business.

eir: Sarah

Hi Guys,

We have been advised that unfortunately there are no plans at present to provide eSims however if this changes we will let you know.

Apologies we don't have better news at this time.

Thanks,

Sarah

sined12

Hi Eir ! Or should be say Eircom ! Even with a name change you are still living in the 80s . Every other county even some 3rd World countries Have access To good fibre Internet And eSim for Apple Devices ! Yet Ireland try to show them self as a International Technology Country Looking for big corporations To mover here yet Eir can not provide decent Internet And refuse To move with the time and use eSim in Apple Devices ! This allegedly Ireland leading telecommunications Company Still living In the 80s ! Time to move on Eircom !

operators don't like esims as it makes it too easy to switch networks.

most hold off until the bitter end before bringing them in even though IoT demands this as a basic point.

probably won't be eir to be first in the Irish market either I would say!

EdgeCase

There are counter arguments to esims too as it gives the device manufacturers total control over what networks you're allowed to use.

Effectively an esim brings you all the inflexibility of the US CDMA networks.

SIMs were designed to give users the flexibility to move service from device to device without any need to consult anyone. They're the ultimate in customer control.

Apple has hated SIMs for some reason since day one and has constantly pushed for a situation where they're in control of what networks you use your iPhone with.

Basically what this opens up is a situation where you won't be able to use iOS devices on smaller networks that aren't official apple carriers.

If android devices start to go through same route and SIM slots vanish, bye bye open competition and hello walled garden of operators selected by your handset maker.

no - the operators will always have control because they own the physical network and decide what happens on it and who gets access to it.

people would be unlikely to buy phones where the handset maker was trying to force a network on you.

except maybe apple but I'd never own an apple product personally

esims would make switching much easier tho and as I said will be required when IoT fully takes off as it would for example be too expensive to switch out the physical sims in 2 million connected electricity meters if a provider change was required.

summit2summit

eir: Sarah wrote: »

Hi Guys,

We have been advised that unfortunately there are no plans at present to provide eSims however if this changes we will let you know.

Apologies we don't have better news at this time.

Thanks,

Sarah

Hi Sarah, thanks for the reply above.

Are you able to offer some rational as to why this service will not be offered at this time? It seems that all network providers are issuing the same "one liner" with no real reason as to why.

It would be nice to know if it is a low demand reason or a network reason etc etc.

It just seems crazy that not one Irish operator (in 2019!!) is providing this service as it is widely available in the America's, Europe and Asia.

Regards,

S2S