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What is an eSIM, really?
An eSIM is a SIM built into your phone instead of a plastic card, and it does the same job: it connects you to a network. Nothing to insert, nothing to lose, and nothing to swap at the airport. Your number, contacts, apps, and messages all stay exactly where they are.
Your phone already has the hardware, a small chip fitted at the factory. Adding an MTN Travel eSIM writes a profile onto that chip, in about a minute, on Wi-Fi. Phones that support eSIM can hold more than one profile and run two lines at once, which is how a travel plan and your home number end up on the same phone, side by side.
You add your MTN Travel eSIM once, and then add a plan to it for each trip. It sits on your phone until you land, then carries your data while you're away. Keep it after the trip; next time, you buy a new destination plan for the same device on the MTN Travel eSIM website and it goes onto the same eSIM, with no QR code and no setup. One eSIM, every trip.
Two differences from a plastic card are worth knowing. An eSIM belongs to the phone it's added to; it can't be popped out and moved to another phone. And the whole add happens on the phone, from your phone's settings, with no kiosk and no post.
- Your plan is data only, with no phone number, calls, or SMS. Calls and texts keep using your home number.
- Your plan starts when you connect in a supported country, not when you buy. Your validity days count from that first connection. Unused data expires at the end of your validity period. It doesn't roll over.
- MTN Travel eSIM plans work on iPhone XS and later and on most Android flagships released since 2019. Your phone also needs to be carrier-unlocked. Check your exact model on the device compatibility page before you buy.
- If it works today with a plastic SIM, it works the same way with an eSIM. The only thing you'll notice is that nothing needs swapping.
Have questions about coverage, installing, or a plan you've already bought? Whatever it is, message us and a few quick questions will get you to the right person. Email works too, if you'd rather.
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