End of the Line: Why Global Enterprises Are Rewriting the Traditional Business Phone Plan

Despite global fuel crises, critical environmental concerns, and a wealth of alternatives pioneered during the COVID-19 lockdowns, business travel rates are at their highest-ever levels. In 2024, the business travel sector was valued at $1.5. trillion, or a 6% increase on 2019 – the US alone saw a 13% increase.

This shift has exposed a rift between the rising prevalence of global customer bases and supply chains, and businesses' abilities to scale internationally.

A clear example is mobile connectivity: most enterprises still manage business mobile plans on a country-by-country basis. More than ever, companies are expected to be able to extend their services across borders, reaching customers and partners where they are, rather than curbing their ambitions to avoid connectivity outlays. As globalization continues to gather pace, this will soon become a necessity.

Developments like eSIMs and Remote SIM Provisioning (RSP) for enterprises are helping to erode these barriers and enabling companies to live up to the promise of border-free business, supported by constant business mobile connectivity around the globe.

What eSIMs for enterprises mean for business travel

2025 was the year that eSIM went global: in October, the Chinese government reversed years of legislation and permitted leading mobile carriers China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom to begin offering eSIM services to their customers. This was in direct response to the release of the iPhone Air, Apple’s latest eSIM-only smartphone.

Rather than lose out on the iPhone, the Chinese government elected to rewrite national policy to accommodate consumer eSIMs. The fact that mobile devices are impacting national policy is a testament to the rapid global adoption rates of eSIM.

In contrast to a physical SIM card, an eSIM allows the user to download and store multiple SIM profiles on the same device. This can be used to switch between work and personal numbers or change to a local carrier while traveling to avoid roaming fees. For enterprises, eSIM profiles have the invaluable advantage of being able to be managed remotely, instantly, and at scale.

In China, demand is already surging: eSIM device shipments to mainland China are expected to see a nearly tenfold increase by 2030. The acceptance of eSIM by the world’s largest consumer market underlines the central role eSIM plays in business communications – companies must adopt an eSIM-focused business mobile strategy to continue to adequately connect their employees going forward.

The hidden cost of outdated business mobile phone plans

Despite the fact that 80% of mobile operators expect their customers to use eSIMs by 2030, many companies are falling behind the curve, operating SIM-card-only enterprise plans.

SIM card-based enterprise connectivity plans create two sources of friction: one at the user end, and one at the departmental end. For individual employees, the downsides of a SIM-card-only connectivity plan are clear:

• Waiting in line for a SIM card, keeping track of multiple cards, and physically switching SIMs every time they enter a new country.

• As eSIM-only devices like the iPhone 17 continue to generate a larger market share, SIM-card-only plans impact organizations' ability to implement bring-your-own-device (BYOD) policies, where employees are free to use their personal devices for work usage. Non-smartphone cellular devices like iPads and smartwatches often use eSIMs – SIM card-based connectivity plans bar employees from using these devices for work purposes.

• Failure to provide an enterprise mobile data connection incentivizes teams to connect to unsecured Wi-Fi networks instead, exposing the company to unnecessary cybersecurity risk.

Over time, these factors erode both productivity and satisfaction.

Less apparent, but potentially more severe, are the hidden costs SIM card plans create among IT departments. Physical SIM logistics and local provisioning create risk and delay, while procuring and managing individual cards is a repetitive and time-consuming process. Forbes estimates that IT staff “spend 25% to 30% of their time on repetitive mobile tasks: provisioning devices, loading software, managing security updates, and troubleshooting user issues.” An eSIM strategy, in partnership with a global mobile provider like 1GLOBAL, provides a single business with an eSIM management platform where IT staff can remotely manage all eSIMs across all devices.

Patchwork business mobile plans

Until recently, connecting team members abroad required companies to make an unwelcome choice:

1. Connect international teams via their regular domestic mobile carrier and shoulder the steep and unpredictable roaming charges.

2. Negotiate, set up, and manage a new connectivity contract for the desired country with a local operator. Repeat as needed for every new country of operation.

This multi-carrier connectivity strategy impacts brands on multiple levels: from administrative overheads to unpredictable billing, heightened cybersecurity risks, and decreased employee satisfaction and productivity. As we’ve previously explored, these fragmented models can have far-reaching repercussions.

They also fail to account for the evolving expectations employees have for business travel: a 2024 McKinsey report identifies an emerging trend of unmanaged business travel, where employees extend their stays, interspersing their trips with PTO, and organizing their own route back.

Flexible, scalable services that allow for swift and secure switching between business and personal SIMs provide individual flexibility while protecting the company from potential cyber threats or data leaks.

Crucially, these models demand a flexible connectivity strategy that can respond to short-notice changes in travel time, accommodate new countries, and cover multiple devices and users as needed.

Enterprises that juggle multiple carriers, billing cycles, and policies across markets will struggle to fulfil these requirements and risk alienating traveling employees.

Hybrid work and mobile connectivity

Despite the occasional public CEO outburst, hybrid and remote work patterns have evolved from temporary lockdown-era solutions to integral elements of a modern office job. A recent study by Owl Labs reported that 40% of US employees would start looking for another role if they were to lose remote work options, with a further 5% quitting immediately. Most managers, meanwhile, agree that hybrid work makes teams more productive.

The growth of remote work practices has also transformed hiring policies, with companies able to find talent across the globe or accommodate employees who are unable to commute. As hiring has gone international, connectivity has failed to keep up.

New remote SIM provisioning tactics and flexible connectivity plans offer a solution.

What a business mobile connectivity plan should deliver

Among IT departments, business travelers, and enterprise mobility providers, the same needs routinely come up: simplicity and transparency.

Simplicity for traveling employees to know they’re covered wherever their work takes them, for IT administrators to oversee and manage all company device use and connectivity outlays, and for business directors to operate and expand into new markets as needed without delays or administrative overhead. As Forbes magazine frames it, “Enterprises tire of managing multiple vendors, fragmented systems and manual processes. They want streamlined, scalable and secure mobility programs.”

Instead of balancing multiple roaming contracts, a single global enterprise mobile plan can provide teams with the freedom to operate internationally, while saving considerable outlays on breakage fees, roaming charges, and administration costs. As such, very few operators are equipped to offer truly global enterprise packages, often with heavy caveats.

Using a global business mobile plan

The good news is that implementing a unified mobile plan for business can be easier than it appears. Network as a Service for enterprise (NaaS) providers operate telecommunications network infrastructure on behalf of the client. Rather than redesign everything in-house, brands can turn to a specialist mobile provider like 1GLOBAL.

1GLOBAL is a fully-licensed MVNO that operates a global core network comprising 600+ carriers across 190+ countries. For users, this means the freedom to roam across the globe while remaining connected to high-speed mobile data across borders and continents, on a single mobile contract. In contrast to bundled international deals or patchwork mobile agreements spanning coverage speeds and regulatory frameworks, 1GLOBAL connectivity is a single, unified agreement.

Not only does this provide seamless cross-border business mobile connectivity for teams on the ground, it eliminates the hidden fees most international business plans incur. IT departments connect all users worldwide through a single agreement, with centralized visibility and control. One contract means one centralized mobile device management (MDM) platform, where administrators can distribute, manage, and recall eSIMs as needed.

Collating all employee mobile usage into a single hub also provides unprecedented levels of insight into individual mobile usage and needs, allowing for data-driven decisions on company mobile policy.

Shared data pools

Unifying mobile connectivity prepares companies for the future of mobile usage. As eSIM adoption and multi-device ownership become increasingly common, a flexible connectivity supply provides a foundation for practical international operations.

1GLOBAL Enterprise plans provide teams with a shared pool of data, rather than individual roaming allowances. Not only does this accommodate the usage of additional devices per employee (e.g., cellular tablets and laptops), it provides organizations with the freedom to instantly onboard new team members on the fly, without first setting up and negotiating an additional connectivity agreement. This is backed by state-of-the-art RSP services that deliver the right eSIM to the right device, anywhere in the world.

The future of enterprise mobility

A unified connectivity strategy recognizes the principles that company mobile policy can, and should, continually develop to reflect individual device usage as well as wider market trends. In this field, scalability is key to success – eSIMs are projected to become the world’s most popular SIM format by 2028, while the number of users owning multiple connected devices in continually growing.

Managing this growing wireless reliance while retaining a transparent connectivity supply is no longer feasible with individual roaming agreements. In the short term, these frameworks slow down operations, create friction for employees, and strain compliance and IT departments. In time, Byzantine agreements can increase the risk of regulatory non-compliance and hinder growth.

While no company can predict the future of global trade, they can implement a flexible connectivity service that grows with their ambitions and provides the freedom to adapt. A unified service allows them to instantly connect teams anywhere in the world. Businesses that embrace these changes and empower teams to work the way they want to, wherever they need to, are poised for success in the wireless future.

Leveraging smart connectivity solutions like global roaming agreements and shared data pools allows companies to turn their connectivity service into an asset. Find out how your brand can start using a 1GLOBAL Enterprise mobile plan by arranging a meeting with the 1GLOBAL team today.