Tangerine and More tee-up April launch for wearable eSIM add-ons

Australia's MVNOs are about to enter the smartwatch space.

As per original reporting by WhistleOut Australia, More and Tangerine will soon offer eSIM connectivity for wearable devices like the Apple Watch to customers.

According to a Tangerine spokesperson, the feature is said to be in a "final testing phase" ahead of an April 2025 rollout.

The main missing piece of the puzzle here is how much it'll cost. At the time of writing, neither Tangerine nor More has yet to put a price on its potential eSIM companion plans.

However,  Telstra, Optus and Vodafone are currently the only game in town when it comes to eSIMs for wearables like the Apple Watch. All three carriers charge $10 per month. Given that, it's not crazy to imagine Tangerine and More's version of this add-on will end up being priced at a similar sum.

The other open-ended question is which wearables will be supported. For instance, Optus' Number Share doesn't play nice with the Google Pixel Watch 2.

In any case, it's highly likely that More and Tangerine's take on eSIM companion plans will come with the same caveat as those available through Australia's big three carriers. You'll have to pair it up with a mobile plan. It probably won't be available on its own.

Fortunately, given that both Tangerine and More offer  SIM-only mobile plans at a lower price than the likes of Telstra and Optus, this may make these particular MVNOs a more appealing option for those who want to save some money keeping their wearable connected.

To see what that might look like, check out the widget below for a snapshot of the cheapest mobile plans from Tangerine and More.

Then, for a sense of how that compares to the cheapest plans available from Optus, Vodafone and Telstra, check out the widget below.

As you can see, the starting price for the cheapest Tangerine mobile plan is just over half of what you can expect to pay for the cheapest mobile plan available through Vodafone. Depending on how much the Telstra MVNO chooses to charge for its smartwatch eSIM, it could well end up being a cheaper option.

With both Everyday Mobile and Numobile tipped to their own launch smartwatch eSIM plans in the months ahead, it seems unlikely that More and Tangerine will be the only MVNOs offering an eSIM add-on aimed at wearables for long. Watch this space.