Travel Tech: KnowRoaming returns for the eSIM era

The power of an eSIM always amazes me when I land in another country and switch off flight mode. A data package bought before departure connects my phone to a local mobile network for data access almost instantly, while the home SIM remains in place for regular voice calls – if I even receive those anymore. Maps and messaging work before I’ve got to passport control, and the ancient tradition of expensive data roaming recedes further into history with every trip.

KnowRoaming gave travellers an early version of that freedom long before the eSIM became a standard smartphone capability. South African entrepreneur Gregory Gundelfinger and his co-founder Mathew Stein developed what they called the world’s first Global SIM Sticker more than a decade ago. The wafer-thin chip was attached to an existing SIM card, and connected the phone to partner networks abroad.

At the time, it was my first real global mobile solution. Travellers could use voice and data across more than 200 countries without replacing their home SIM, while an app tracked usage and managed credit. The technology looks quaint beside today’s instant downloads, but it anticipated the central promise of eSIM: one device able to adopt a new mobile identity as its owner crosses a border.

KnowRoaming piggybacked on global licensing deals made possible by Gundelfinger’s US-based telecoms group Telna. In 2024, the business and brand was sold to eSimplified, and executive director Michael Roffey led the rebuilding of the company around consumer and enterprise traveleSIMs.

This week, South African investment group DNI announced that it has invested in KnowRoaming as part of more than R2.1-billion committed across its connectivity and technology portfolio. DNI says its investment will help KnowRoaming expand its consumer reach and international footprint, supported by the group’s telecommunications expertise and industry relationships.

Africa is a primary target for that expansion. In effect, KnowRoaming is very much a global company, but with a large staff contingent based in South Africa.

“We see this as a real advantage because it means decisions get made close to one of the fastest-growing travel and eSIM markets in the world,” Roffey told us. “DNI’s investment strengthens that local anchor and puts us in a strong position to build for the realities of this market.

“It comes down to distribution, speed and depth in emerging markets. With DNI alongside us, we can put KnowRoaming in front of customers through far more channels than we could on our own, while accelerating investment in our platform and our marketing.”

The company is embedding its eSIM service in banks and telecoms businesses, along with travel platforms that can sell connectivity as part of a trip. It has also launched an enterprise service through which companies can provide eSIMs to employees and lower the cost of employee travel data.

Of course, the consumer market is overflowing with eSIM brands. Holafly has been especially relentless in its marketing, this week distributing a Travel eSIM Value Index that found, surprise, Holafly offered the best value. Its comparison included Airalo and Saily, but excluded KnowRoaming and my preferred provider, eTravelSIM.

In my own travels, eTravelSIM has usually beaten Holafly and Airalo on cost in every country. The latter two usually win on comparisons of unlimited packages for a specific number of days, but that is usually overkill for the typical trip in which the traveller flips between hotel and conference Wi- Fi and an eSIM.

“Holafly and Airalo are strong global players, but both are built around a single-purchase model and a largely direct-to-consumer footprint,” says Roffey. “KnowRoaming differs both in terms of distribution and product.”

“We are launching features such as KR.One, whereby a customer buys one eSIM and adds plans to that installed eSIM for every trip. That shifts travellers away from today’s disposable model, where you buy a new eSIM for the US and another for the UK, to installing once and simply adding a plan for each trip.”

That feature takes KnowRoaming back to the principle behind Gundelfinger and Stein’s original sticker: install the technology once and use it wherever one travels. And it offers one rare advantage, says Roffey: it treats Africa as a priority region.

“We understand the market’s realities first-hand, and DNI brings distribution and operating expertise across the continent that no global competitor can easily replicate.”

* Arthur Goldstuck is CEO of World Wide Worx, editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za, editor of GadgetWings, and author of “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to AI – The African Edge”.