Google Pixel 3 to get eSIM support from Reliance Jio, Airtel in India

Reliance Jio and Airtel will rollout eSIM support for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in the "coming months".

Reliance Jio and Airtel will rollout eSIM support for the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in the “coming months”.

Google has announced that it will expand eSIM support on the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL to more network providers in a half a dozen countries, including India. The company did not provide an exact timeline of the rollout, but said support coming to Airtel and Reliance Jio “in the coming months”. The Pixel 2 was the first smartphone from Google to get eSIM support.

For those living in Germany, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone will be adding the support for eSIM on the Pixel 3 “soon”. If you are in the US, eSIM support is coming to Sprint in the “coming months”. The company also promises to extend eSIM support on the Pixel 3 through the following network operators. These include EE in the UK, Airtel and Reliance Jio in India, and Truphone and Gigsky in various other markets.

There’s a sign of an increase in adoption and awareness of an electronic SIM card, or “eSIM”, especially after Apple added the eSIM feature on the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max and iPhone XR. In India, major telecom operators including Reliance Jio and Airtel have been offering e-SIM support on the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, and iPhone XR. The eSIM technology essentially allows users to change network operators without having to replace a SIM card. It’s actually a digital SIM that offers the same functionality as the regular physical SIM. This is useful if you are travelling abroad, or if you want to have personal and professional numbers on the same device.