eSIM with Appalachian Wireless:
The future of mobile connectivity — available today.

Mobile devices have come a long way.

From the bag phones of the early 90s to the incredibly thin and powerful devices of today, mobile devices continue to advance leaps and bounds each year. Since 2010, most phones require a physical SIM (Subscriber Identity Module) card be installed to acquire and maintain service.

A SIM card is essentially a tiny memory card that stores identifying information about your cell service that we need to provide services to you. These physical SIMs have had various iterations over the years. The first version of these SIMs were referred to as full-size (or 1FF) and were as large as your credit card. As time progressed, they've continued to shrink to the most common size today, referred to as nano SIM.

Today, a new form of SIM is gaining popularity — eSIM. eSIM stands for "electronic SIM" and is a completely digital version of the physical SIM card. As Eastern Kentucky's leading provider of high quality telecommunications products and services, we're excited to announce support for eSIM connectivity.

With eSIM, there is no longer a need for the physical SIM — it's all stored electronically on eSIM-supported devices and handsets. This adds a quick and convenient way to activate service on your device.

Activating or switching to eSIM is quick and convenient.

eSIM capability is available on both our LRA (Band 13) and EKN (Band 12) networks. There are two ways to activate or switch to eSIM:

We're always exploring additional ways to activate or switch to eSIM and hope to provide more options in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is an eSIM?

An eSIM is a SIM that is embedded inside your device. There is no physical SIM that can be inserted or removed from the device. The device will still work identically as devices worked in the past with a physical SIM. eSIM allows device manufacturers more flexibility with space constraints since they do not have to make room for a SIM tray and SIM card in devices.

What does it mean when a device is eSIM-only?

This means there is no physical SIM or SIM tray in the device and that is must use eSIM for activation. Many devices manufactured since 2020 have eSIM capability already, and it’s very likely that devices manufactured going forward could become eSIM only.

Which devices are eSIM-supported currently?

eSIM support is continually expanding with new handsets. Currently, iPhone XR, XS, 11, 12, 13, and 14 models are all eSIM capable. Certain Android handsets also support eSIM. For more information, consult your device manufacturer.

Are there any eSIM-only devices at Appalachian Wireless?

The iPhone 14 lineup, including the iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Plus, iPhone 14 Pro, and iPhone 14 Pro Max, are our current eSIM-only devices at this time.

What does "dual SIM" mean?

This typically means the device has both an eSIM and a physical SIM slot. This allows the device to have more than one phone number. This means if you have a eSIM with another carrier, you can insert a physical Appalachian Wireless SIM in the physical slot on the device and have two wireless services on the phone. This also means you would have monthly billing charges from both carriers as well, but this would be an option for some customers who have a business line and a consumer line that don’t want to carry two devices.