What’s an eSIM card?
A SIM card (Subscriber Identification Module card) is a physical chip that is inserted in a phone. When inserted, this card identifies one person as a subscriber of a telecommunication network.
When a person is subscribed to a network, it can use the services that this network provides to communicate, such as:
Making calls
Using short message service (SMS)
Connecting to the Internet
eSIM cards are the digital version of the SIM cards. Instead of having to install them manually, they are installed on the phones. This means that Palestinians in Gaza can access a network even if we can’t provide them with any physical card!
Although there are two things they do need:
A digital “key” to access the network
A minimum Internet connection
QR codes are the “keys” that are shared with Palestinians in Gaza to access the network. But having internet connection is crucial in order to succesfully install the QR codes.
First, Palestinians need to have Internet to get the QR code sent to them.
Afterwards, they need Internet access to install the QR code and start using the new network.
It's somewhat contradictory, but they need to be connected to a network to be able to jump into another better network!
Even if people in Gaza can successfully activate eSIMs, it doesn’t guarantee that they will always get a good connection. That’s why we are witnessing people going on top of the roofs trying to get some connection.
You don’t know why your esim card has not been activated: The Internet network is very unstable in Gaza. If people lose the connection when trying to install an esim, the esim might give an error and suddenly go to waste, forever.
If you wonder why your esim card was activated, but no data usage is shown: a person in Gaza might have managed to activate it, but they are still trying to find a good spot where the connection works.
