Vodacom SA has officially come up with an offer for all customers with supported devices which will give them the ability to use embedded Sims (eSims), which expands the support for a technology that obviates the need for physical Sim cards.
The company has revealed that it will now offer eSim support for smartphones across prepaid, top-up/hybrid as well as post-paid plans, which would mean that users with devices that support eSim will be able to make use of the technology.
This move is set to allow Vodacom to reduce the need to manufacture plastic Sims, in the process reducing carbon emissions, the company said. The information is contained in a few lines of code stored on a dedicated chip inside a mobile phone.
Vodacom explained that traditional Sim cards contain unique identifying information that allows a mobile phone or device to connect securely to a mobile network. “With eSim, that information is contained in a few lines of code stored on a dedicated chip inside a mobile phone or device rather than on a removable card.”
In a statement, the consumer business director from Vodacom South Africa, Rishaad Tayob said that the number of eSim-capable smartphones in the local market is “growing rapidly”.
He added that with the introduction of a QR code-based eSim activation method, customers can now connect and use the self-Rica (Sim registration) process to activate their new number digitally.
Vodacom first launched eSim support for wearables under the OneNumber brand back in 2019. Since then, it said its network of eSim-enabled devices has grown to more than a million.
