Why mobile data is a recurring problem for travelling teams
For a single traveller, mobile data abroad is a minor decision. For a company sending sales staff to trade fairs, engineers to client sites or consultants on rotating projects, it becomes a policy question. Who pays for data? How much is reasonable? What happens when someone lands at midnight and cannot get online to find the hotel?
The usual answers each have drawbacks. Company roaming bundles can be good value in some regions and expensive in others, and the bill often arrives weeks later with surprises. Asking staff to buy local SIMs means time spent in shops on arrival, registration paperwork and a pile of small expense claims. Leaving it to individuals means some people overspend and others go without data and work around it on hotel Wi-Fi.
Travel eSIMs give a middle path: a data line bought in advance for each trip, with a known cost, delivered by email and installed before departure.
Roaming, local SIMs and travel eSIMs compared
Each approach suits a different kind of travel programme. It is worth being clear about the trade-offs.
Corporate roaming
Roaming on company phone contracts needs no set-up and keeps each employee's work number active for calls. It works well when your operator's roaming bundles cover the countries your staff visit at reasonable rates. It becomes expensive when trips go outside those bundles or when usage is heavy, and costs are usually only visible after the fact.
Local SIM cards
Local SIMs can be good value for long postings in a single country. For short business trips they are inefficient: staff spend time finding a shop, registration rules vary by country, receipts are often informal, and the employee's work number is out of the phone unless it has dual SIM.
Travel eSIMs
A travel eSIM is installed alongside the employee's existing SIM. The work number stays active for calls and texts, while the eSIM handles data at a price agreed before the trip. Multi-country plans such as the Europe plan cover itineraries that cross several borders. The main requirement is that phones support eSIM and are carrier-unlocked, which most recent models do and are, but company devices are worth checking first.
Company phones, device management and eSIM
Before rolling out travel eSIMs, check how your company phones are set up. Three things commonly get in the way.
- Carrier locks. Phones supplied through an operator contract are sometimes locked to that operator. A locked phone cannot use another provider's eSIM. Your operator or device supplier can confirm the status.
- Mobile device management. Some device management policies restrict adding cellular plans or changing network settings. Your IT team may need to allow eSIM installation or install plans on employees' behalf.
- Older models. Most phones released in recent years support eSIM, but some older or regional models do not. Point employees to the compatibility checker, or ask them to dial *#06# and look for an EID number.
Personal phones used for work
If staff use their own phones for work, the same checks apply, but the decision about installing a second line sits with the employee. Most people are comfortable with a travel eSIM because it does not replace their own SIM or number, and it can be switched off or removed after the trip. Make clear in your policy who pays for the plan and whether personal use on the trip is acceptable, so nobody has to guess.
It is also worth agreeing what happens after the trip. An eSIM that has run out can stay on the phone without causing any charges, but many people prefer to delete it once they are home to keep their settings tidy. Deleting an eSIM is permanent, so the instruction should be to wait until the trip, and any top-ups, are over.
Sizing plans by role and trip
Most of the cost savings in a travel data policy come from matching plans to actual use rather than giving everyone the largest option. The ranges below are rough and approximate; your own usage reports are the best guide once the programme is running.
- Short meeting trips of two or three days: email, messaging, maps and ride-hailing typically use modest amounts, often well under a gigabyte a day.
- Trade fairs and conferences: venue Wi-Fi is often overloaded, so staff lean on mobile data, hotspot laptops and run video calls from the stand. Usage can be several gigabytes a day.
- Field engineers and site visits: uploads of photos, reports and remote support calls vary widely; an unlimited plan may be simpler, with the caveat that speed may slow after heavy daily use.
- Long assignments: weeks in one place may suit a larger fixed data plan with top-ups, or a no-expiry plan for people who travel often but use little.
Setting a simple policy
A short policy works better than a long one. For example: everyone gets a standard plan for the destination, roles with heavy use get unlimited data, and anyone running low can request a top-up. Topping up adds data to the same eSIM, as explained in our add more data guide, so there is nothing new to install mid-trip.
How Spidot for business works
Spidot offers a business service for companies, travel agencies and travel brands. The process is straightforward: you tell us where your people travel and roughly how many travellers you have, we set up your account and pricing, and you send each traveller their eSIM by email.
Purchases are made in bulk, each traveller receives their eSIM directly, and you get one invoice on the terms in your order form rather than a stack of individual receipts. You can also see usage per traveller, which helps when you review whether plan sizes fit how people actually work. Agencies, airlines and travel apps can also resell Spidot plans under a partner agreement.
Questions about a business account can go through the form on the business page or to support@spidot.com.
Onboarding travellers: what to send them
Most problems with travel eSIMs come from installing too late or forgetting one setting on arrival. A short instruction sheet sent with the eSIM prevents most support requests.
- Install the eSIM at home or in the office on Wi-Fi, at least a day before departure. Installation needs an internet connection.
- Follow the guide for your phone: iPhone, Samsung or Pixel.
- Do not delete the eSIM after installation. It can be switched off until you need it.
- On arrival, set the eSIM as the mobile data line and turn on data roaming for it, as shown in the data roaming guide.
- Turn off data roaming on the company SIM so it does not use data abroad.
- Keep the company SIM on for calls and texts, including security codes.
Security and compliance considerations
Security teams often ask whether a third-party data line is safe for work traffic. A travel eSIM connects to licensed mobile networks in the destination country, in the same way a roaming SIM does. Traffic over mobile data is generally less exposed than traffic over shared hotel or conference Wi-Fi, which is one reason many security policies prefer mobile data for sensitive work on the road.
Whatever the connection, keep your existing controls in place: a corporate VPN where required, device encryption, screen locks and remote wipe. Note that a VPN adds a small overhead to data usage and may make websites think the traveller is in a different country. Our article on whether a travel eSIM is safe explains the security side in more detail.
Data-only eSIMs do not include a phone number, so calls and texts continue to go through the company number. That keeps call records and two-factor authentication on the systems you already manage.
Hotspot use for laptops
Many business travellers use their phone as a hotspot for a laptop in taxis, at airports and on client sites. You can usually share travel eSIM data this way. Laptops consume data far faster than phones, mainly through cloud sync, software updates and video calls, so it is worth setting work laptops to treat a phone hotspot as a metered connection. Our hotspot guide covers the settings for common laptops.
Measuring whether it works
After a quarter or two, review the programme with a few simple questions. Are travellers getting online on arrival without calling for help? Are plan sizes roughly right, or are most people topping up or leaving most data unused? Have roaming charges on company contracts dropped? Are expense claims for local SIMs and Wi-Fi passes disappearing?
Usage per traveller makes these questions easier to answer. Adjust plan sizes by role, and keep the instruction sheet short and up to date with any recurring questions from your travellers.
Frequently asked questions
Can employees keep their work number while using a travel eSIM?
Can we buy eSIMs for different destinations in one order?
How does each traveller receive their eSIM?
What if a traveller runs out of data during a trip?
Can travel agencies offer Spidot eSIMs to their customers?
Plans for this trip
Check the plans and live prices before you go. You receive the QR code by email right after payment.