eSIMs are eventually supposed to replace SIM cards, those little pieces of plastic you put in a phone to set which carrier it’s connected to. eSIMs offer a digital version of that, theoretically allowing you to switch phone carriers at the touch of a button, all through software. Your phone could even automatically switch between multiple carriers depending on which one offered a better signal, cheaper service, or specific features, if carriers and phone makers wanted to offer such a thing.

But while eSIMs have slowly been making their way into phones, basically none of that has happened. That’s because carriers — through their industry body, the GSM Association (GSMA) — have been making rules around eSIMs that allow them to lock down phones and prevent users from switching networks.

It is because all this companies love free competition and core US values :-) May be.

The Justice Department could have looked at this obviously problematic behavior and told the GSMA to require eSIMs to remain open to any network. Instead, the DOJ is doing nothing and says it’s going to keep an eye on the GSMA to see if the situation improves.

And this is, of course, due to some weird managers who are wrong people without proper cultural code as Louis Rossman like to tell you. Certainly not because government clerks always serve ruling class (aka owners of all this big cellular providers). Can't be.