Yesterday, a Reddit user shared a screenshot of what is supposed to have been an upcoming promo from Visible. The promo was said to offer new subscribers $20 off their first month of service. Visible's previous iteration of that offer came to an end on 9/30/2020. The new promo was supposed to have launched on 10/5/2020 but has thus far failed to materialize.
But what was the most interesting thing about that shared screenshot was that Visible said that you could "activate your new service in the Visible app using eSIM or a physical SIM...." So from that screenshot which you can see below, it appears that Visible is finally ready to launch support for eSIM. A rep from Visible confirmed to BestMVNO on Twitter that eSIM is indeed coming, but it's not quite ready for showtime. The rep promised more coming soon.
???? look away everyone. Nothin’ to see here. But seriously, eSIM is coming, but it’s not quite ready for showtime. More soon, we promise!
— Visible (@Visible) October 5, 2020
Although the rep said it's not quite ready for showtime. A little digging on Visible's website proved that they are indeed working on support for eSIM. I don't know how long this URL https://www.visible.com/eSIM/error will be live for, but if you check it out it is an error page of sorts that tells visitors "you have an eSIM order in progress." I'm sure that page is not meant to be viewable by the public, but it is and I saved a screenshot of if which you can see below. The page seems to indicate it is coming to iOS.
The wireless industry has been very reluctant to fully adopt and promote eSIM. The argument against adoption has been that carriers and providers worry about making it too easy for their customers to leave for a competitor. eSIM is indeed more consumer-friendly and does make it easier for a customer to switch providers. So much so, as a stipulation of the T-Mobile/Sprint merger approval, T-Mobile and DISH were actually required to agree to support eSIM. Of course, eSIM can also allow users to subscribe to two different networks with one phone offering better coverage. It can also allow users to have the ability to have a business line and a personal number with the same phone without the need to buy two different phones.
At the moment, a limited number of providers offer support of eSIM in the USA, namely AT&T, Google Fi, T-Mobile, Truphone, Ubigi, and Verizon Wireless. Those that do may not even offer full support of the feature. On T-Mobile Prepaid, eSIM support seems restricted to iPhones. And with Verizon Wireless, it only seems to be supported with their postpaid plans, not prepaid. However, Visible is a prepaid brand owned by Verizon Wireless, so that appears to be destined to change. And when it does, Visible will be the first carrier owned prepaid subbrand to offer the feature.