Optus’s eSIM Number Share service will cost $5 extra per month
You can link your Apple Watch Series 3 to your phone number for $5 per month.
Last week when Apple announced the Apple Watch Series 3, it noted that both Telstra and Optus would be amongst the first telcos in the world to support the Apple Watch eSIM, and indeed, Telstra wasted no time in announcing its support for the eSIM standard.
Optus has also announced support for the eSIM number sharing service. With the Apple Watch Series 3 having gone on pre-order on Friday, it has now released full pricing details for its number share eSIM service.
Optus's Number Share service will attract a $5 per month charge in order to share the same number between your iPhone (iPhone 6 or newer) and Apple Watch series 3. However, for any orders before 31 December 2017, Optus will waive those charges for the first six months of usage.
There's no included data with the Number Share charge because you simply use the same data pool as your existing plan. Any calls made by your Apple Watch Series 3 are charged at the same rate as your existing Optus postpaid plan, which for most plans should equate to unlimited standard national calls, although some premium and most international calls will attract a fee.Optus notes that reception may be a little different compared to your handset due to the lack of 700Mhz support on the Apple Watch Series 3. For now, there's no sign of Number Share availability for Optus prepaid customers.
So how does that eSIM pricing compare? Telstra hasn't announced what it will charge consumers for its own eSIM system, and Vodafone was noted at launch as providing the Apple Watch Series 3 at a later date, although it does have pricing that may be indicative.
For owners of the Huawei Watch 2, Vodafone offers a $10 Red Wearable plan, which provides 1GB of data to the Watch 2 SIM. As we noted in our review of the Huawei Watch 2, that's a full nano-SIM and not an eSIM, so it's always possible Vodafone may charge differently when it launches its own eSIM service.
If you're keen on Optus's eSIM deal, you'll need an iOS 11 compatible device to pair it with as well as an eligible Optus postpaid mobile plan. Optus announced its iPhone 8 pricing on Friday, and you'll find it below. To compare, you can also check out our list of every Australian carrier's iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus plans here.
