Travel eSIM Market Heats Up in Singapore

Firsty offers free data to ad watchers, while Goose has rates that may rival big players'

- Zachary Lim

Want free mobile data when traveling overseas during the upcoming June school holidays? All you have to do is watch some advertisements first.

Singapore-based start-up Firsty is offering this service as it looks to compete in a market projected to grow to more than 215 million customers in about three years' time.

The Dutch firm moved its headquarters from Amsterdam to Singapore in March, and raised US$5.5 million (S$7 million) to upsize operations by expanding its Asia-Pacific market.

Local firm Tuas, which owns Simba Telecom, has also joined the fray with its Goose eSIM, launched in October 2024. Both Tuas and Firsty are vying to get a slice of the growing travel eSIM space dominated by international players such as Airalo and GigSky.

While Goose eSIM does not offer free data like Firsty, its prices are highly competitive compared with global travel eSIM providers – a Goose travel eSIM to Malaysia costs US$1.50 per 1GB, valid for a year.

The eSIM business has been growing fast since 2017, when eSIM-compatible smartphones were launched.

Embedded as a tiny chip in devices, an eSIM performs the same functions as a physical SIM card, including the storage of identification information and connecting users to networks. It allows users to switch mobile providers or data plans digitally.

There were 40 million eSIM users in 2024, and the number is projected to grow to more than 215 million by 2028, according to a 2024 study by Britain-based research company Juniper Research.