Airalo is moving its more than 30mn customers to a single eSIM that travellers install once and keep, running on its own core network, the travel eSIM provider said on November 9.
Customers will install one eSIM and then buy a data package for each trip, rather than installing a new eSIM every time. They can top up or buy packages at any time without Wi-Fi or another active SIM, even after a package has expired, and test the connection before they leave.
Airalo is also simplifying its range to flexible one-to-30-day unlimited packages for most destinations, fixed 30-day packages and fixed 365-day global packages. It did not give prices.
The rollout began on November 9 and will be phased over 12 months. Customers can keep using the platform as before until they are migrated.
“We built our own network so that it’s never left to chance, install once, and connection follows you across borders,” said Davide Vitiello, Airalo’s chief product officer. The company did not name the network or the operators it works with.
Competition for travellers’ data is growing, with Wise adding eSIM plans and Kenya’s Kwetu eSIM joining the Safaricom M-PESA super app. Airalo’s own booking data recently showed North Americans switching to Scotland, Albania and South Korea. GSMA Intelligence forecasts that eSIM smartphone connections will reach 4.9bn by 2030.
Airalo, founded in 2019, serves travellers in more than 200 destinations and has a fully remote team of more than 400 people.
