eSIM in Nepal by NTC- Check this before getting eSIM

On September 16, 2022 (Bhadra 31 2079), Nepal Telecom officially launched the eSIM in Nepal. Currently, NTC (Nepal Telecom) is the single operator in Nepal that have started providing eSIM in Nepal leaving behind Ncell and Smartel.

What is eSIM?

eSIM means Embedded Subscriber Identity Module. It is also called electronic SIM, Soft SIM, or Virtual SIM. It is not a physical SIM that we have used till now. Instead, it is just a small patch or software where information of telecom and users, is added into the eSIM compatible mobile phones.

Interesting Evolution in SIM

First SIM card was the size of ATM card. Later with technological changes, devices and mobile phones become smaller and smaller and thus the SIM card. From 1991 to 2022, there have been drastic decrease in the size of SIM card. Here is the different versions of SIM card till invented.

How to get Nepal Telecom eSIM?

In order to get eSIM of Nepal Telecom, subscribers need to take their eSIM compatible mobile phones in NTC offices. NT staff will validate the users information with document which can be citizenship, passport, license or others. Then they will generate the QR code and provide the QR code to respective users. Now Users just need to scan the QR from the eSIM compatible phones. The QR code contains all the information like customer mobile number information, network information, security key and a lot more. In general, such information is called profiles. So these profiles are added into the mobile phones, get stored and activated in just a while.

Also read: How to check NTC mobile number

Do you need older SIM card after you activated the eSIM?

No, its not necessary to keep the physical (older) SIM card after you activated the eSIM in mobile phones. Once eSIM gets activated, there is no use of older SIM card that we used to kept in SIM slots. eSIM will do all the things that previous physical SIM card would do. So why to keep the things that no longer will be use.

Don’t rush for eSIM now!

Well, there is a lot of news related to eSIM in Nepal and even Nepal Telecom is also sharing handful information relating to eSIM. According to Gadgetbyte, Nepal Telecom is aimed to distribute 1,50,000 eSIM for the first year in Nepal. It is incorrect to point out but this number is very less as compared to number of mobile subscribers. According to NTA published MIS report in August 2022, NTA have 83,26,082 3G subscribers and 1,12,68,663 4G subscribers. So as compared to the hooping rise in mobile subscribers, just One Lakh and Fifty thousand eSIM is very less. Moreover, the issues upon eSIM upon various handsets are still to rise. One of the latest news is that google phones are corrupted due to esim. So it would be better to have eSIM after 5-6 months inorder to be free from these issues that are still more to be discovered.

Where is NTC eSIM available ?

For now, according to Nepal Telecom, eSIM is available at various places of Kathmandu Valley. It is still not conform when they will begin issuing eSIM from other offices outside of valley, but it’s sure ,that this might take more time.

Who are the eSIM providers in Nepal?

Currently, only Nepal Telecom, NT is the only single provider of eSIM for its users.

Ncell, are they preparing for eSIM?

Well, we cannot articulate with confident that they are working or not working for issuing of eSIM for its customers or not. But when we study their strategy in their 4G deployment, then its soo sure that they will rapidly and aggressively reach to its customers in whole Nepal leaving behind Nepal Telecom. According to a news posted in Kathmandu Post, they told that “Devices supporting eSIM are yet to penetrate the Nepali market to create value for mass consumers. Ncell will review readiness to enable eSIM once the market reaches an acceptable level of maturity,”. This means this they are regularly checking for the market viability of eSIM in Nepal and once they feel confident, its sure they won’t lag in the race.