[harha]

One announce with eSIM is that you can’t move them freely, despite being advertised as equivalent. Depending on the provider it can get quite complicated (physical visit in store, fees) to move to another device.

[londons_explore]

Could one make an all-software sim card emulator which would enable this?

Or does the esim spec have some kind of DRM to require you to use physical hardware with an embedded yet secret-to-you key?

[gruez]

>Or does the esim spec have some kind of DRM to require you to use physical hardware with an embedded yet secret-to-you key?

Yes. Basically there's an accreditation process by the GSMA, and if your esim doesn't have a certificate chain leading back to GSMA, you won't be able to get your esim provisioned.

https://media.ccc.de/v/camp2023-57190-demystifying_esim_tech...

[notpushkin]

There is SoftSIM, but I think it’s geared towards IOT applications: https://onomondo.com/product/softsim/

[stavros]

Sorry, move them from what to what? Surely an eSIM isn't locked to the first phone I use it on?

[klausa]

It is.

The QR codes that provision the eSIM are single-use.

Most "real" carriers will of course let you migrate your eSIMs, with varying degrees of pain involved (my Japanese eSIM migrated automatically from iPhone to iPhone; the German one involved making a phone call); but ~all "travel plans" eSIMS will be single-use only.