Travel eSIMs are bringing more competition to the roaming market, pushing prices down and bundles up.
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The rise of travel eSIMs is creating more competition in a market that was long in the hands of the big telecom companies. As a result, roaming rates outside the EU are falling quickly and larger data bundles are available. Even within Europe, an eSIM can be cheaper.
Anyone who streams a lot, works, or uses a hotspot while on holiday may be better off with a travel eSIM than with a Dutch subscription. That is sometimes already true within Europe, and even more so outside it. But "unlimited" bundles are often less generous than they appear.
An eSIM is a digital SIM card that you activate on your phone alongside your regular SIM. That way you can use a separate data bundle while travelling, while your own number stays active for calls, texts, and verification codes.
"The market is growing fast. More providers are entering, bundles are getting bigger, and the price per gigabyte is falling," says Vince Vissers, founder of eSIM provider Firsty. "A few years ago an eSIM was mainly a technical innovation. Now the influx of providers is creating real competition."
The offering ranges from cheap bundles for light use to large packages for people who travel long term, work, or watch a lot of video. There are bundles for a single country, for a region such as Europe, or for a large number of countries worldwide.
An eSIM can also be cheaper within Europe
Dutch travellers can generally use their regular data bundle in other EU countries without extra roaming charges. For light or average use, that is usually the simplest choice.
Even so, a separate eSIM can be worthwhile within Europe too. Unlimited Dutch subscriptions often still have a data cap abroad, for example 25, 40, or 50 GB. Anyone who goes over that, or who needs far more data, may be cheaper off with a large regional eSIM bundle.
"Providers can now sell bundles that were barely feasible a few years ago," says Vissers. "You increasingly see large regional packages or cheap subscriptions covering multiple countries."
Outside the European roaming area, the price difference is usually bigger. There, travellers fall back on international bundles or the roaming rates of their Dutch provider. A specialised eSIM provider can often deliver more data for less money for the same destination.
New providers are pushing roaming prices down
According to independent telecom expert Taco Jelgersma, the fact that specialised providers are often cheaper is not only down to new technology. They buy capacity in multiple countries, work with less complex or outdated IT systems, and sometimes settle for a smaller profit margin.
"Outside the European roaming area, the chance is very high that you will find a cheaper eSIM," says Jelgersma. "Dutch providers were able to charge high rates there for a long time. Travellers now have far more alternatives."
That puts pressure on KPN, Vodafone, and Odido. Still, according to Jelgersma it is too simple to attribute every price drop entirely to travel eSIMs. The wholesale rates that telecom companies charge each other can also fall. It is not yet clearly demonstrable how big the influence of eSIM providers is exactly, but competitive pressure is indeed increasing.
"Traditional providers have to choose whether to come up with better international products themselves or let market share slip away," says Jelgersma. As you can read in the article below, for example, Odido has now started its own eSIM service for travellers.
"Unlimited" can get much slower after 5 GB
More competition does not necessarily make comparing easier. For instance, "unlimited" can mean that you can only use part of the daily bundle at full speed. After that, the connection is heavily throttled. Daily limits, the speed after such a reduction, and the rules for hotspot use also differ per provider.
According to Jelgersma, customers also need to pay close attention to which services an eSIM offers. Many providers only supply mobile data, which means you cannot call or text via the eSIM. So set the eSIM as your data source and switch off mobile data on your Dutch SIM. That prevents your phone from unnoticedly using your own provider's more expensive network.
Telecom expert Jelgersma therefore advises looking up other travellers' experiences with eSIMs via Google and travel forums. "The travel eSIM market is not very transparent yet."
