Sibling telcos Tangerine and More will launch eSIM companion plans for smartwatches on April 1, with pricing set at $10 per month.
This makes the pair the first mobile providers outside of Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone to offer the functionality in Australia. Telstra and Vodafone charge $5 per month for the feature, while Optus charges $10 per month.
eSIM companion plans for smartwatches allow users to share their mobile connectivity with an eSIM-enabled smartwatch. That smartwatch can then make phone calls, receive text messages, and access mobile data, independently of the phone it's paired with.
This, for example, lets a user go for a run with just their smartwatch while still having the benefit of mobile connectivity. Smartwatches from Apple, Samsung, and Google are all available in eSIM-enabled variants.
Naturally, an eSIM companion plan requires a customer to have a mobile plan with the telco in question. You can't have a mobile plan from one provider and an eSIM companion plan from another.
Tangerine and More are only making companion eSIMs available with their 5G mobile plans. Here are Tangerine and More's compatible SIM-only plans:
While Tangerine and More are charging $10 per month for a companion eSIM, their mobile plans are more affordable than those sold by the Big Three, lowering the barrier to entry.
At full price, Tangerine's eligible plans start at $29 per month, which jumps to $39 per month with the companion eSIM. For comparison, the cheapest plan from the Big Three comes from Vodafone and is billed at $49 per month at full price. Adding on a companion eSIM takes this to $54 per month.
Here are the cheapest companion eSIM-compatible plans from Telstra, Optus, and Vodafone:
There are a few bits of fine print worth noting when it comes to Tangerine and More's companion eSIMs. Connected smartwatches can only use a plan's primary allowance; they can't access banked data. And as is fairly standard, their companion eSIMs don't work with international roaming.
Lastly, Tangerine and More's companion eSIMs won't work with Google Pixel smartwatches. There shouldn't be any issues with other wearables, however. The eSIMs are compatible with every Apple Watch from the Series 3 and up, and every Galaxy Watch from the Watch 3 and up.
WhistleOut has been testing a Tangerine companion eSIM with an Apple Watch Ultra 2 for the past few days, and it works as you'd expect. You set up your eSIM and plan through the Watch app on your iPhone, where you'll be prompted to log into your Tangerine account. You then confirm you want to add the eSIM to your plan, and that's it.
There's nothing surprising or different here, but in this case, that's a good thing. If you've used a companion eSIM with a different provider, Tangerine and More are offering the same experience.
Tangerine and More are both powered by the Telstra network.
Fellow Telstra MVNOs Everyday Mobile and numobile last year told WhistleOut they also plan to launch eSIM companion plans in 2025.
These are the most popular NBN 50 plans with WhistleOut users this week:
Alex Choros
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