Digicel TCI to launch eSIM Cards this month

By Dana Malcolm

Staff Writer

#TurksandCaicos, February 6, 2023 – This is the month when a new evolution in cell phone services will arrive in the Turks and Caicos Islands; Digicel TCI says e-SIMs are coming.

Created in 1991 (just thirty years ago!) SIM cards revolutionized the telephone industry, giving mobile phones a new way to connect that has become standard but the creation of eSIM cards could propel continuity to a whole new level.

An eSIM is a programmable SIM card embedded directly onto a device’s motherboard and digitally stored on the device.  It is built in, usually by the cell phone maker and is not removable without breaking the device apart.  With an eSIM you can have multiple accounts with multiple cell phone carriers (and your cell numbers associated with them) saved to your device and for most devices you can have at least two active at any time.

For example a client can sign up for an account with Flow TCI and one with Digicel TCI and another with T-Mobile for vacations overseas.

Instead of buying a SIM card from each and switching it out each time customers want to use the carrier, information including your cell number is all stored in your eSIM.  The dual sim feature allows you to have at least two of these carriers active at any time.  You can receive calls and use data for example, on your active carriers.

Already major phone makers are switching over.  The US version of the latest iPhone does not have a sim tray for a physical sim at all going straight to eSIM capabilities.  Apple allows its users to store up to eight carriers and have two active at any time.  This capability is dependent on your local networks having e SIM capabilities enabled.

eSIMS make it easier to switch between mobile networks, can reduce cost and size of cell phones and provide better security.

Digicel has confirmed the service will be in in The Turks and Caicos by January 31st and those with eSIMS built into their cellphones can take advantage of it.  Flow has rolled out its own plans in different parts of The Caribbean including Jamaica as well but there are drawbacks.

Flow Jamaica says, “Unlike removable SIM cards that can simply be removed from the device and disposed of, eSIMs are built into the device itself, and cannot be removed without opening up the phone.  Since eSIMs cannot be removed from mobile devices, this can make it more difficult to change between devices.  It can also make it harder to transfer ownership of the device to somebody else.”

For now it’s unlikely that cell phone makers will switch over to e-sims completely but tech junkies can certainly try it out!