The shift from traditional roaming to eSIM is revolutionizing the way travelers stay connected. At MWC Barcelona, Telna CEO Gregory Gundelfinger shared insights on what’s driving eSIM adoption and how operators can capitalize on this shift. With mobile devices increasingly supporting eSIM, a new market is emerging—one that enables seamless connectivity for travelers while opening fresh revenue opportunities for operators.
Telna’s innovative approach allows MNOs and MVNOs to create custom travel plans with ease, integrating eSIM into apps and services like ride-hailing, banking, and travel booking. With dynamic IMSI technology, Telna is paving the way for a single, globally functional eSIM that eliminates the need for multiple installations. Want to know how eSIM is reshaping global connectivity? Watch the full interview now.
Diana Goovaerts:
Gregory, so the travel market is shifting from traditional roaming to eSIM. Talk to me a little bit about what's driving this transformation and where you see the trends heading.
Gregory Gundelfinger:
Well, there's a couple of things that are driving this trend. The first thing is that since around 2018, all our phone devices were shipped with the capability of being able to load an eSIM, the rest of the market is now following suit. So, Apple really pioneered the adoption of eSIM and were real catalysts in getting mobile network operators to adopt it.
The second thing is that most people don't realize, but there have been a huge amount of people that didn't have roaming capabilities built into their plan because they were using MVNOs that didn't offer them roaming as part of their plan. They were prepaid subscribers. So when they traveled outside of their country or their region, they didn't get that seamless experience that some enterprise or high output types of customers receive. And then the last one is that a lot of customers were buying SIM quads when they arrived in a new destination to be able to stay connected.
So there's this whole category that mobile network operators have spoken about for a very long time called Silent Rovers. And so eSIM and the digital experience of downloading an app, installing an eSIM, and being connected while broadening that full digital experience is really changing the way that people stay connected and is really creating a whole new market where these customers were for the most part, totally ignored. So it's a new market opportunity that we see the technology has caught up. We are now seeing Android devices, not only the high-end Android devices, but also the mid and the low-end devices also start to adopt eSIM. So it's a really exciting time.
Diana Goovaerts:
So I see this puzzle is starting to come together. I heard you say iPhones, I heard you say Androids, but what about operators? What sort of challenges do they face when they're trying to launch eSIM?
Gregory Gundelfinger:
Mobile network operators have always provided their service and focused on the local market. They've never really thought of focusing on specific travel corridors. For example, Americans traveling to Turkey and creating a custom-specific plan for that travel corridor. So I think that what Telna has brought to the market is a platform that enables MBNOs and MNOs to create custom plans through our APR, through a couple of clicks, through a fully managed service enabling them to launch a travel eSIM app with very, very little effort or resources on a fully optics basis.
Diana Goovaerts:
I heard you mention different sort of opportunities that operators have. Talk to me about what new business models are emerging in the eSIM world.
Gregory Gundelfinger:
A lot of super apps are exploring adding this as a value-added service. So think about when you book your hotels and you get offered insurance. Now you'll be offered an eSIM. When you ride hail for a car through a ride-hailing service, wouldn't that be a perfect place to be offered an eSIM? They know exactly when you are on your way to the airport or you are at the airport and want to remain connected. When you are booking a car, wouldn't that be a perfect time to be able to purchase an eSIM? So there are huge opportunities for mobile electric operators to penetrate new markets through channel distribution by collaborating with some of these apps that are now looking to become super apps, not only selling their core products, but are looking to become more of a marketplace.
We're seeing a lot of banks that are looking to add eSIM as a benefit to some credit cards and incorporating it as a value-added service directly inside their app. So there are huge opportunities to now monetize roaming, to engage travelers, to connect the unconnected in a way that it's totally digital and user-friendly.
Diana Goovaerts:
So talk to me a little bit about how Telna's approach to dynamic IMSI kind of impacts the global connectivity experience and travel eSIM experience.
Gregory Gundelfinger:
Yeah, so I mean I think that for people that have used a travel eSIM, which is less than 25% of the market, the penetration is extremely low. So we are very, very early on in the adoption of ESIM. The experience might be that you download an ESIM for a specific country. Where we are moving is you'll have one eSIM that will be working globally. So you'll have a SIM card and a digital SIM card that you will have loaded onto your phone, installed one time, and then every time you travel, you'll just buy another package without going through that installation process.
In addition to that, we are also adding voice and SMS capabilities, so you will be able to not only high-speed data because all of our data is localized, but also you'll be able to make voice and SMS calls with a local number.
Diana Goovaerts:
Excellent. Thank you so much for your time.
Gregory Gundelfinger:
Thank you very much and enjoy the rest of the show.
Diana Goovaerts:
Thanks.