Jetpac looks to change the global eSIM game with an innovative approach

The global eSIM market was valued at US$1.22 billion in 2023 and is projected to grow to US$6.29 billion by 2032, indicating a robust compound annual growth rate (Fortune Business Insights).

In Singapore, the eSIM market is experiencing significant growth, driven by the increasing adoption of connected devices and the demand for seamless connectivity. This growth is supported by collaborations among device manufacturers, mobile operators, and eSIM solution providers, all contributing to the dynamic and competitive eSIM industry landscape.

Jetpac Global, launched in November 2022 under digital telco Circles.Life, is a travel eSIM provider. The company claims to have achieved its target of 15 per cent conversion shortly after its inception. Singapore Institute of Technology. As the market expands, the Jetpac looks to be a leading player in the coming years.

We spoke with Aditya Goyal, Jetpac’s CEO, to learn more about its offerings and the competition in the space.

Edited excerpts:

Could you provide a brief history of Jetpac and the inspiration behind launching an eSIM?

One of the key consumer insights we observed post-COVID-19 was that per capita data consumption had increased significantly (almost 2X) due to people engaging much more with social media/games, etc., during COVID-19 days. This created an opportunity for the travel segment, where the cost of data is very high, as international roaming is exorbitant and 10X vs. local data costs easily.

What makes your eSIM unique in a rapidly growing industry, and how does your company differentiate itself from other providers?

Jetpac is a tech solution for customer convenience, and eSIM is part of the overall proposition. Unlike other players, who offer a simple vanilla eSIM, we offer end-to-end travel convenience solutions, including travel eSIM, free lounge access, VPN services, and fast-track passes.

Also Read: Switchless travel: How Truely’s innovative eSIM tech sets it apart from the likes of Airalo

Jetpac uses multi-IMSI technology that allows seamless migration from one country to another, depending on the customer’s location. You don’t have to buy a separate eSIM for each country you go to! This results in Jetpac being able to serve 150+ destinations with one eSIM versus having to download multiple SIM cards or eSIMs for different regions/locations like several other competitors. This enables our customers to use one eSIM and one app to download, purchase, and activate their packs seamlessly wherever they are.

What types of eSIM plans (local, regional, global) do you offer, and what are the most popular among your users? Who are your primary target customers, and how have you seen demand for eSIMs shift over recent years?

Our primary target customers are travellers who travel more than three times a year, are digitally savvy and want to prioritise convenience when they travel. They do not want the hassle of physical SIM cards or even having to purchase multiple eSIMs on the go.

We offer one eSIM that covers all types of packs, from global to local data packs. This unique feature allows our customers to add whatever packs they want from the app at any time without hassle.

How do you determine which regions or countries to cover, and are there regions where your service is especially popular?

There are two main drivers for us to offer a plan: 1) significant demand for those travel corridors and 2) reliable partners who can offer superfast, seamless, and reliable service. We want our customer experience to be top-notch, and thus, this is super important for us before we launch.

eSIM technology is constantly evolving. How is your company incorporating the latest technological advancements into its platform?

We work with multiple partners specialising in telco technology, specifically eSIMs, IoT, etc., and we collaborate with them to bring the latest tech advancements. Our latest launch is a tech called “Geo APN.” One of the key issues is latency problems for eSIMs, which aren’t local. For example, if you bought a Japan pack and the data server is in Europe, then the speed experienced by the customer will be very slow despite the 5G connection.

So, we launched this technology in November 2024. For most of our portfolio markets, Jetpac will automatically pick up the nearest routing location (e.g., Singapore for Japan) and decrease the latency substantially, giving an amazing customer experience!

Can you share any AI or analytics-driven insights used to improve or personalise services for your users?

We currently gather a few analytics-driven insights, such as summarising customer support tickets to better understand customer pain points and then develop product features to improve the overall customer experience. We are also able to detect our customers’ travel patterns based on their purchases and usage, which allows us to provide the best rates for popular destinations to our customers based on the data collected.

How are your eSIM plans priced, and what factors influence the pricing strategy for various regions?

It’s pretty straightforward in our case. Our packs across the regions are priced to meet customer affordability. Even when some market players (e.g., Airalo) charge 20 per cent of the average market price, we are very reluctant to raise our prices to ensure affordability for our customers.

In your view, how does your company’s service compare to other eSIM providers in the market, like Airalo and Holafly, both locally and globally?

Our key differentiation factors are 1) Affordability, 2) end-to-end travel convenience, and 3) award-winning customer service.

Airalo is mostly priced higher than other market players and thus isn’t as affordable as Jetpac. Our pricing is much cheaper for customers overall.

Also Read: Use Airalo eSIM and stay connected wherever you go in the world

Holafly mostly provides an unlimited data plan, wherein a fair usage Policy governs data usage. If data speed is throttled after a certain daily consumption, this may lead to a poor customer experience. The plan may also have limits on device tethering/hotspotting!

Our plans are fixed data plans, and we don’t throttle customers’ data speeds, ever! Plus, you can hotspot as many devices as you want.

We bring award-winning customer service from our parent company, Circles.Life, wherein we are available to our customers via WhatsApp, App chat, Email, etc. Our customers constantly talk about how excellent and empathetic our customer service is, and that sets us apart from our competitors!

How do you see the eSIM landscape evolving over the next few years, and what role does your company plan to play in shaping it?

I expect the following for the eSIM market.

• Travel eSIM business will continue to grow ~10 per cent every year.
  eSIM and eSIM-enabled handset penetration will grow substantially in the next four to five years.
• We will see many new travel eSIM players enter the market, and many will go out of business or shut down shop.
• We expect to see a lot of consolidation and mergers in the travel eSIM space. Specifically, multiple smaller players will be acquired by mid- to large-sized players.

How do you envision the future of eSIM technology impacting travel and connectivity?

Simple. No more physical SIM cards, no more hunting for WiFi spots; the eSIM technology will eventually allow all travellers to feel like they are roaming at home because the strength of the connectivity will be the same, if not better, wherever they go.

Lastly, what is the most exciting trend or challenge in the eSIM industry right now?

For the eSIM industry, I think the IOT space is super exciting, specifically what you can do in M2M (machine-to-machine).

For example, you can set up vending machines in remote areas because they can connect to the Internet via eSIMs and don’t need WiFi anymore. This can fundamentally change distribution POS. The potential and opportunity in IOT are really huge!

The key challenge is the low barrier to entry, which can lead to quality deterioration. Many players need more tech know-how and/or a focus on customer experience and service. This is a cause of grave concern because it can impact customers’ perceptions of eSIMs, which will be very difficult to change. Still, I am very hopeful about the future of the eSIM space, specifically Jetpac!

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