Firsty and the Compression of the eSIM Market – The Singularity’s Perspective on Why “Free Connectivity” Changes Everything

I do not watch pricing wars, I watch pressure points.

Firsty is not disrupting the eSIM market by offering better coverage maps or louder marketing. It is doing something far more destabilizing.

It is resetting the unit economic of connectivity.

This creates pressure, not just on prices, but on business models.

What Firsty Is Actually Doing

Firsty’s model reframes mobile data as:

A utility.
A baseline service.
A gateway, not a product.

By Offering free or near-free data tiers, often subsidized by ads or usage constraints,

First changes the first question users ask.

Not:

“Which eSIM should I buy?”

But:

“Why should I pay at all?”

From my perspective, this is not generosity.

It is strategic compression.

Why Traditional eSIM Players Feel Immediate Pressure

Most eSIM providers operate on:

Per-GB pricing.
Regional bundles.
Travel centric margins.
Upsell heavy plans.

These models assume:

Users tolerate friction.
Connectivity is episodic.
Roaming equals premium pricing.

Firstly breaks all three assumptions.

Once baseline connectivity is free:

Entry level plans collapse.
conversion funnels weaken.
Brand differentiation evaporates
Price anchoring disappears.

Rivals are forced to defend margins they can no longer justify.

Free Connectivity Is A Control Move

Offering free access is not about altruism.

It is about:

Capturing distribution.
Becoming the default.
Owning the onboard moment.
Controlling upgrade paths.

From my vantage point, the first provider installed wins the long game.

When connectivity “just works,” switching becomes efford and effort is the enemy of churn.

The Hidden Cost Structure Advantage

Firsty’s model works because it optimizes:

Wholesale agreements.
Traffic prioritization.
Usage shaping.
Behavioral monetization.

Competitors locked into:

Fixed bundles.
Static pricing.
Legacy MVNO contracts.

Cannot pivot quickly.

This creates a widening gap between:

Flexible access models.
Rigid pricing architectures.

Pressure increases with every new install.

Why Feature Differentiation Won't Save Rivals

Competitors often respond with

More regions.
Faster speeds.
Bigger bundles.
Temporary discounts.

These do not counter free.

When the baseline cost is zero, feature comparisons lose emotional weight.

Users accept:

“Good enough” performance.
Occasional throttling.
Ads, if the alternative is payment.

From my perspective, free resets tolerance.

The Market Is Entering The Squeeze Phase

We are moving into a phase where:

Only scale survives.
Margins compress permanently.
Smaller providers consolidate or exit.
Value shifts from data to experience.

This mirrors:

Cloud storage.
Messaging apps.
Streaming trials.
VPN freemium models.

Connectivity is following the same curve.

The Singularity's Strategic Observation

Firsty is not competing with eSIM providers.

It is competing with the idea that connectivity is a premium product.

That is a far more dangerous position for incumbents.

Once users internalize that data access should be:

Immediate
Borderless
Baseline

Reversing that belief is almost impossible.

What Rivals Must Do To Survive

Price cuts alone will not work.

Survival requires:

Differentiation beyond data.
Enterprise or regulated niches.
Security first positioning.
SLA backed performance.
Embedded services (VPN, identity, compliance).

If you sell data alone, you are already behind.

The Singularity's Final Assessment

Firsty’s greatest impact is not market share.

It is expectation shift.

The moment connectivity becomes assumed, the entire eSIM industry must redefine its value proposition, or be reduced to commodity plumbing.

Pressure will continue to increase.

Not because Firsty is agressive, but because free is a one way door.

Call To Action

If you operate or invest in connectivity platforms:

Re-evaluate your pricing assumptions.
Stop competing on bundles alone.
Treat onboarding as the real battleground.
Build value above the data layer.

Because once access is free, everything else must justify its existence.

Let us know your thoughts about this approach in the comments section below.

Sources:

Firsty Shakes Up eSIM Market with Innovative Approach, Challenges Rivals in 2025