The Ministry of Communications has allowed Tele2 to continue its experiment with eSIM after fixing a “technical issue” and undergoing an FSB inspection

The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media has allowed the Tele2 operator to continue the experiment, which was interrupted in the spring, to transfer users to eSim technology, which allows connecting to mobile communications without a SIM card. Deputy Minister Oleg Ivanov told Vedomosti about this.

eSIM technology allows mobile devices to use an embedded microchip instead of a plug-in SIM card and allows multiple phone numbers on a single device; it is already supported by two generations of Apple smartphone models, as well as phones, tablets and smart watches from competing manufacturers .

In late April, Tele2 began offering users the option to switch to eSIM as a limited experiment, despite objections to the idea from the FSB and operators MTS, Megafon, and Beeline. The Ministry of Communications soon demanded that the project be shut down “until all security issues are resolved.”

The Deputy Minister of Communications did not describe the security issues that were discussed in the spring in a conversation with Vedomosti. He said that it was a "technical issue" in Tele2 networks that was fixed, and the FSB checked and approved the further conduct of the experiment.

A Tele2 representative declined to comment on the situation.

In June, it was reported that the Institute for Internet Research proposed requiring manufacturers of devices with eSIM to store data in Russia.