There have been explosion in popularity in recent years to eSIMs for travel. This is due to how easy eSIMs are to set up on phones, and how their data plans can be more expensive compared to what you’ll pay in international fees for using overseas networks.
But Motorola is now making it more hassle-free by building originals eSIM travel experience on his smartphones.
The capability is available as customers will have to download from the Google Play Store, called Global Connect, but the app will be pre-installed on new Motorola devices in the future. Available on any eSIM-capable Motorola phone—including affordable smartphones like $180 2026 Moto G Play—although it is currently only available for use in a few Latin American markets: Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, and Chile. Motorola says support for use in Germany, the UK, and Europe is coming in the next few weeks. The company still had nothing to share about US availability.
Travel eSIMs give travelers an easy way to instantly access a data-only eSIM that works at their destination—even before they hop aboard. It means you don’t have to stand by the SIM card kiosk at the airport and struggle Physical SIM cards to connect to the destination network. You can increase your data allowance through the app and pay as you go. These ESIMs often don’t include the ability to make calls and send texts, and that’s the case here with Motorola’s solution. (Fortunately, WhatsApp is widely accepted in tourist areas.)
The service is operated by Gigsa San Francisco company that helps companies sell mobile data plans without having to deal with complex telecom negotiations and contracts. It’s the same company behind the phone plans from Klarna,, a buy-now-pay-later serviceand more recently, Financial Software. Motorola says it worked closely with Gigs to make the experience feel like a “Motorola-branded experience” and not a third-party plug-in.
While Motorola claims this is the first time a major smartphone maker has embedded a travel eSIM feature in its phones, Chinese phone maker Xiaomi offered similar travel SIM functionality back in 2015, though it has since discontinued the feature.
Sudhir Chadaga, vice president of Partnerships at Motorola, says customers have to install the Global Connect app, open a Gigs account, and they’ll get 1GB free with their first travel eSIM (available for a limited time), then they can add data as needed. Chadaga claims the rates are competitive—$3 for 1 GB for 30 days, up to $14 for 20 GB—and the service is available in more than 160 countries. You can keep using this travel eSIM for all your travels.
“What we’re trying to do for our customers is solve that friction of getting that travel eSIM quickly into a device when they’re out traveling,” Chadaga tells WIRED. “With Global Connect, that’s exactly what we’re bringing to our users.”
Travel ESIMs are cheaper than paying for data when using overseas networks. This is what you do when you rely on your primary service provider to connect you to networks in other countries. Siddhant Cally, senior analyst in the Networks and Connectivity team at Counterpoint Research, says that in some regions, legacy network operators were offering roaming at half the data but at double the price of travel eSIMs.
Cheap rates, paired with how easy it is to download and save a travel eSIM to your phone before your trip, have made them. very popular. And since you can still use data to make calls or send messages on WhatsApp or FaceTime, the limitation of not being able to send or receive text messages or calls from your own number is less of a concern. That’s why America service providers like T-Mobile, Verizonand AT&T have tried to meet the challenge of third-party travel eSIM programs on their roaming business with their travel eSIM options for people entering the US during World Cup.
