The gap between what carriers charge for roaming and what connectivity actually costs has become genuinely absurd.
What a week abroad costs through a major carrier. A standard international day-pass runs around $12 a day in the US — call it $84 for a one-week trip. Inside the EU, roaming is regulated, but data used outside the EU-27 still averages around €4.42 per gigabyte. Only a minority of international trips actually land inside the EU's "roam like at home" zone.
Why eSIM adoption is still catching up. Even though the vast majority of mobile operators now support eSIM, only around 5% of smartphone connections worldwide actually use one today. Most travelers still don't know a ~$9 travel eSIM plan exists as an alternative to a $12-a-day carrier pass.
Where VIVON goes further than a standard travel eSIM. VIVON adds metadata shielding on top of global eSIM access, so you're not tracked at the network level the way a traditional carrier tracks subscriber identity and location — and calls and messaging run against your Web4 identity instead of a conventional phone number, so you're reachable the same way in every country without a new SIM or a new number each time.
VIVON is currently in closed beta ahead of a wider release. Write to [email protected] and mention the VIVON beta if you want in before your next trip.