Every SIM I have seen is free or close to it, unless you are buying it as part of a bundle where the SIM is usually free and its the stuff bundled with it, like data, that costs money.
Comment on Article: I switched to eSIM in 2025, and I am full of regret
exu@feditown.com 4 weeks ago
The worst thing is how a normal SIM now costs 60$ with most providers here
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz 4 weeks ago
jaxxed@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
In the EU, SIMs are often free or less than €5
frongt@lemmy.zip 4 weeks ago
Where is “here” T-Mobile just gave me one for free a few weeks ago. And that was with me bringing an unlocked phone for activation on their network too.
PerhapsSomethingElse@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
gomo.ie 12.99 for life, everything unlimited. Physical or eSIM.
mjr@infosec.pub 4 weeks ago
It says €14.99/month for life. And why is eircom now an Irish branch of a Jersey company? Tax dodging?
PerhapsSomethingElse@discuss.tchncs.de 4 weeks ago
My bad, they had a promo recently for 12.99, I’m on 9.99 from a few years ago. Per month indeed.
sauerkrautsaul@lemmus.org 4 weeks ago
theres also 48.ie and I think I pay €8 monthly. no international calling though
Kirp123@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Really? In Europe you can get one for free from some providers. And the vast majority offer one for under 15 dollars. And if you pay for it, it already comes with some preloaded data and calls so you can start using it right away.
sauerkrautsaul@lemmus.org 4 weeks ago
cell (mobile) service is just way, way more expensive in the states. no justifiable reason, just cause they can and all do.
I pay €8 monthly for unlimited everything except international calls (its my work phone) and I think €20 for the other one.
I was just in the US for christmas and wanted data etc but my phone doesnt support eSim and the cheapest sim only plan was at&t and it was $40, it had a data cap of some kind and required a $15 activation fee. I used a lot of wifi during this trip.
my wife’s phone can do eSim so she had unlimited everything for €25 or something for the ten days I believe, with Holafly.
In a past life I worked at the biggest telecoms company in the states and we’d be encouraged to sell people $89.99 a month and that still had a limit to “minutes”. We also learned that the towers emit radiation 24 hours a day, and modulating said radiation costs the company essentially nothing at all, so the “minutes” thing is just pure profit
prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 weeks ago
At&t isn’t the cheapest here, take a look at Mint Mobile it’s $15/month
sauerkrautsaul@lemmus.org 4 weeks ago
yeah mint had a three month minimum
shortwavesurfer@lemmy.zip 4 weeks ago
Team Mobile Connect offers five gigabytes of data, unlimited talk and text for $15 per month. That’s what I’ve been using for years now.
sauerkrautsaul@lemmus.org 4 weeks ago
is that like a microsoft teams esim?
if so, I mentioned in a previous comment here my old phone cant use esims
Pika@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
In the US the sim itself is usually dirt cheap (like less than a 1$) but it’s difficult to just buy the sim unless you buy it directly through the carrier.
I’m assuming the 60$ price is including their monthly plan, I know a few carriers offer BYOD kits for 50-60$ which include the sim, but those same carriers usually will offer a 3-5$ multi sim kit (a kit with a bunch of different sim card sizes) that is usually only obtainable via shipping so most go for the BYOD kit instead of waiting.
exu@feditown.com 4 weeks ago
My provider (Wingo, Switzerland) wants 40 CHF (~50 USD, I remembered wrong) for a replacement SIM. Not sure about new signups
Kirp123@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Well here you can get a SIM for very cheap or free if you’re a new signup. No idea about getting a replacement but I assume it’s not as cheap.