Gone are the days of physical SIM cards for higher-end phones, particularly the shiny new iPhones! Ever since eSIM cards took over to save space and costs for the carriers, the process seemed to be cumbersome while you switched phones. It was not easy or straightforward.
I am using Airtel on a Postpaid plan and I am in the USA. Previously, I had to hold on to an older phone and carry another primary phone. With iPhones adopting eSIM and the ability to host 8 eSIMs at any given time, the game changed. The process though for Airtel Postpaid was not documented by Airtel themselves.
Send this message to 121 on your phone (old phone you are trying to move away from) where you have the working SIM card.
ESIMQR youremail@youremailprovider.com
You will receive a message to which you have to reply with a 1 within 60 seconds.
You will then receive another message alerting you to confirm the request via a phone call that you will receive in 8-10 minutes. Both times it was around the 9th time when I tried. If the phone is in silent mode or you missed the call for whatever reason, the call attempted multiple times every 5 minutes or so. Make sure you listen to the options once you answer the call. The number you enter can be make or break and you have to restart the SMS request process all over again.
If everything goes well, the service on the old phone you will see the eSIM activated on your new phone within 2 hours. Make sure you turn the line/sim on on the new phone once you see SOS on the old phone. Pretty seamless! Such a relief that you no longer have to travel overseas for dual sim capability on the iPhone – one domestic and one international sim!