There was a time when buying a SIM card was one of the first things you did when landing in a new country. Queues at airport kiosks, paper booklets with confusing plans, and the universal traveller’s ritual: swapping that tiny piece of plastic just to get online.

That era is ending.

Today, your next mobile connection doesn’t come from a store—it’s activated through an app, preloaded in your phone, or bundled inside the services you already use. The eSIM — a small, programmable chip inside your device — has quietly become one of the most powerful enablers of modern mobility. And it’s spreading far beyond the tech-savvy traveller niche.

From Travel Tool to Lifestyle Infrastructure

What started as a convenience for frequent flyers is now reshaping how people live, work, and move across borders.
An eSIM is no longer just a way to save on roaming — it’s becoming the default medium for everything that requires a data connection.

Wearables now rely on eSIMs to stay connected without phones.
Connected cars use them to update navigation and stream music in real time.
Laptops, tablets, and smart devices switch between networks automatically.
And increasingly, financial apps, airlines, and hospitality brands are bundling eSIM data directly into their customer experiences.

In short, connectivity is being absorbed into daily life — and consumers expect it to “just work.”

Global Momentum and Market Scale

The global eSIM market is on a steep upward curve.
According to GSMA Intelligence, over 2.8 billion consumer devices now support eSIM technology, with Asia–Pacific seeing a 38% year-on-year increase in adoption. The Trusted Connectivity Alliance reports more than 500 million eSIMs shipped in 2024 alone, while IMARC Group forecasts the market will reach $45 billion by 2033, growing at an annual rate of 15.8%.

What’s driving this surge isn’t just technology—it’s behavior.
Consumers want instant, borderless, app-based access to connectivity. In the same way streaming made TV on-demand, eSIM is making mobile data flexible and mobile identity portable.

This shift is especially visible in travel and remote work, where seamless connectivity has gone from luxury to necessity.

The Travel and Mobility Catalyst

Travel has been the perfect laboratory for eSIM adoption.

Digital nomads, remote professionals, and global travellers are leading the charge — using eSIMs to skip roaming fees and stay connected across continents. Research by Juniper projects travel eSIM users will surge from 40 million in 2024 to over 215 million by 2028.

Many eSIM providers have capitalised on this demand, turning digital connectivity into a multi-billion-euro industry. The appeal is simple: open an app, scan a QR code, and you’re online in seconds — no shops, no contracts, no stress.

Airlines and travel agencies are catching on too. From Trip.com’s integrated travel eSIMs to fintech apps like Revolut offering global data plans, connectivity is no longer an add-on. It’s becoming part of the customer journey — a natural extension of how we book, pay, and move.

Everyday Connectivity: Beyond Travel

What’s emerging now is a more profound transformation.
eSIMs aren’t just about crossing borders—they’re becoming a bridge between services.

In smart cities, they’re powering IoT sensors and connected transport.
In retail and banking, they’re securing real-time authentication and mobile transactions.
In enterprise mobility, they allow teams to manage devices across continents without ever handling physical SIMs.

Even in healthcare and wearables, eSIMs are enabling connected monitoring that travels with the user, not the Wi-Fi signal.

The telecom world is no longer defined by towers and stores — it’s becoming an ecosystem of software-based connectivity, layered invisibly across the experiences that define modern life. embedded connectivity esim

The Business Shift: From Telcos to Tech Ecosystems

Traditional mobile operators are watching this transition closely.
Without physical SIM cards, customer relationships — once tightly controlled — are slipping into new hands.

For some, that’s a challenge. For others, it’s an opportunity.
The most forward-looking telecom players are embracing connectivity-as-a-service models, partnering with app ecosystems, fintechs, and mobility platforms rather than competing with them.

The question is no longer who sells the SIM, but who owns the experience that makes the SIM useful.

One of the Latest Signs of the Shift: Grab and Firsty

A recent example of this transformation comes from Southeast Asia.
Amsterdam-based Firsty, which calls itself the world’s first telecom offering free global mobile data, has partnered with Grab, the region’s leading super app.

Through this collaboration, Grab’s 46 million monthly users can activate Firsty’s global eSIM directly within the Grab app, gaining seamless connectivity without roaming charges or multiple SIM cards.

It’s a smart pairing: Grab controls mobility, payments, and everyday services in eight countries; Firsty brings borderless, carrier-agnostic data. Together, they’re turning connectivity into just another integrated service—as natural as booking a ride or ordering food.

This partnership perfectly captures where the eSIM economy is heading: from standalone apps to embedded infrastructure inside the platforms people already use every day.

The Bigger Picture about embedded connectivity & eSIM

eSIM adoption isn’t a tech fad—it’s the blueprint for how connectivity will work in the next decade.
As networks evolve and 5G (and soon 6G) expands globally, physical SIM cards will become as outdated as dial-up modems.

What replaces them won’t just be digital chips—it will be ecosystems of connectivity, built around software, apps, and brand experiences.

The true winners in this space won’t necessarily be the biggest telecom operators or the cheapest eSIM providers. They’ll be the ones who understand how to embed connectivity into everyday life—quietly, intuitively, and everywhere.