Econet will introduce eSims in Zimbabwe in the near future after the country’s largest mobile network operator signed a deal with an Irish-based company. The deal has been arrived at after the two companies conducted successful trials. Econet’s Rufaro Nelson who led the project for Econet Zimbabwe said:

This is yet another ground-breaking initiative which serves to enhance the Econet customer experience. For this project, we have had the benefit of working with a strong local partner in Workz, which with the support of their incredible technical team has allowed us to complete comprehensive development and testing in a highly efficient timeframe. Together, we look forward to being the first to bring this new technology to Zimbabwe and Econet subscribers in the very near future

Hang on, whats an eSim?

Essentially, an eSIM is a SIM that built right into the hardware of your phone. This means that your phone can connect to a network without the use of a physical SIM that we insert into our phones at the moment. Devices need to be built for this function, so your old Galaxy S4 won’t have this capability. So when Econet finally launches its eSim, Econet subscribers with devices that only support eSims will no longer have to have to insert anything into their phones but simply download an eSim software or app and start texting, calling and do pretty much everything that we use our SIM cards for at the moment.

eSims are beneficial to subscribers, network providers, and even phone manufacturers. For subscribers, an eSIM should mean that you could go to another country (which has an eSim Mobile Network Operator) and simply add a roaming eSIM to your handset while retaining access to your main “home” number – that’s one of the disadvantages we currently have with Sim cards because, if you change SIMs abroad, for example, you can’t access your own number. One of the advantages eSIMs to offers phone makers is that we should get smaller devices because there’s no need to accommodate a SIM card or the tray that holds it. There’s also no need for networks to manufacture or distribute lots of SIM cards.

Second country in Africa to bring eSims

Currently, in Africa eSims are only available in South Africa only so if launched in the coming months, Zimbabwe will possibly have the honour of being the second country in Africa to use eSims. Speaking about the deal, Workz Managing Director of the Middle East and Africa for Workz Group said:

“We are proud to work with our long-term partners Econet on another highly innovative project. We expect eSIM technology will make a significantly positive impact on people’s lives, and we hope Econet Zimbabwe subscribers can start enjoying this enhanced experience very soon.”

Techzim