Travel eSIMs exempt from telecoms licence

Global companies selling travel electronic SIMs (eSIM) will be exempt from needing a telecommunications licence to operate in Guernsey.

The Guernsey Competition and Regulatory Authority (GCRA) said the exemption was made as it was not "effective or proportionate" to require global providers to obtain a licence.

GCRA said many providers had no physical presence on the island and their networks allowed people to use mobile phones while travelling to avoid roaming costs.

It added eSIMs from global firms could not be used for more than 30 consecutive days while companies with a base in Guernsey, including Co-op Mobile, JT and Sure, would "continue to be subject to regulation".

The GCRA said although the vast majority of eSIMs did not require a licence under the law, a small subset were "inadvertently captured by the law due to the way in which these services are sold and used".

It said: "Given that the majority of travel eSIMs sold in Guernsey do not require a licence, the GCRA has taken a pragmatic and proportionate view of this situation and has issued an exemption from the law for these products."

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