Interview: Telna on Scaling Travel eSIMs for Global Brands

May 2026

Telecoms & Connectivity

Alex Webb

Senior Research Analyst

Following Telna’s win for Travel eSIM Solution of the Year at Juniper Research’s Future Digital Awards, we sat down with Gregory Gundelfinger, Founder & CEO of Telna, to explore how travel connectivity is shifting from a niche add-on to a core digital service, and how Telna has built a connectivity ecosystem designed to help brands move faster in an increasingly competitive travel eSIM market.   How is the travel connectivity market evolving, and which key trends are reshaping demand for travel eSIMs today?

 
The headline is that travel recovered; roaming didn't, at least not in the same way. That gap is the story.

Around 40% of travellers actively avoid roaming today. Not because they don't need connectivity, but because they don't trust the model. Cost unpredictability built up years of avoidance behaviour, and that behaviour has stuck even as networks improved. The traveller moved on before the industry did.

Three forces are now converging to close that gap. First, the device ecosystem: eSIM is no longer a premium feature - it's standard - and activating connectivity through an app feels more natural to most travellers than traditional roaming ever did. Second, the structural trajectory: travel embedded SIM (eSIM) data traffic is growing faster year-on-year than roaming traffic, and this isn't a temporary spike. Third, and most consequential, the value chain has moved. Connectivity decisions now happen digitally, often before the traveller leaves home. That changes who controls the experience, and that's where the real competition is playing out.

What's important to understand is that this isn't a rejection of mobile operators. Most travellers actually want to stay with their provider. The problem is the absence of a transparent, digital offer. The operators and brands moving fastest are the ones who've understood that.

What’s driving more brands to launch travel eSIMs, and how does Telna make it easier for them to offer a competitive, scalable solution?

The market signal is clear: mobile network operators (MNOs), mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), fintechs, and digital platforms are all moving into travel connectivity simultaneously. The common thread is the recognition that owning the connectivity moment means owning a high-stakes touchpoint in the customer journey. When someone lands abroad and their phone just works, that experience belongs to whoever delivered it.

What's accelerating this is that travellers are telling us directly they want a better version of what already exists - digital, transparent, or app-based - the demand is there. The barrier has always been on the supply side.

That's where Telna's role is most significant. We don't just provide network access; we deliver a full connectivity ecosystem. On top of our Connect platform, which has powered travel eSIM since 2019, we build and deploy white-label consumer apps, webstores, and customer relationship management (CRM) infrastructure that handles everything from eSIM provisioning and billing to subscription lifecycle management. An MNO or brand that comes to us can enter the travel eSIM market with a complete, branded, market-ready product. They don't need to build the infrastructure or the consumer experience. We provide both.

That's backed by serious network depth: over 350 direct roaming agreements on the Telna International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI), more than 35 direct integrations for MNO IMSIs, and redundant access to 800+ networks across 200+ countries. In 2025 alone, we activated more than 44 million eSIMs. Partners inherit all of that from day one.

How does Telna enable brands to deliver a seamless, end‑to‑end eSIM experience, from activation to reliable, disruption‑free connectivity for travellers?

The word ‘seamless’ is used loosely. In connectivity it has a very specific meaning: the traveller never has to think about it. Not at activation, not mid-trip, not when they cross a border.

Activation is handled through a single API that manages the full eSIM lifecycle, profile download, provisioning, and status management. That's the entry point. What happens after is where the real infrastructure work shows up.

Our multi-IMSI architecture and dynamic network switching mean that when conditions change, such as when congestion, coverage gaps, or border crossings occur, the platform responds in real time without the user feeling it. With redundant access to 800+ networks, we have the breadth to make intelligent routing decisions, not just fall back to whatever happens to be available. That's the difference between a connectivity product and a connectivity platform.

The brands we work with don't get pulled into network operations. They stay focused on their customer experience. We handle what's underneath.

What level of control and flexibility does Telna give brands to tailor, price, and manage their travel eSIM offering?

We don't sell a product. We sell infrastructure and, increasingly, a complete go-to-market capability built on top of it. That distinction matters because it means the commercial model, packaging, pricing logic, and customer-facing experience all belong to the brand, not to us.

For brands that want to move fast, we can deploy a fully built white-label app and webstore under their name - running on the Connect platform - with our CRM handling provisioning, billing, and lifecycle management end to end. They launch with a complete product. For brands that prefer to integrate into an existing experience, our API-first architecture makes that equally straightforward. The level of involvement is theirs to define.

On the commercial side, the flexibility is complete: flat daily rates, regional bundles, usage-based triggers, loyalty integrations, the platform supports whatever model fits the brand's strategy. Our Operations Support Systems (OSS)/Business Support Systems (BSS) stack provides partners with full visibility and control over their subscriber base without directly touching the network layer.

We're deliberately invisible in the end-user experience. Telna doesn't appear in the product the customer sees; the brand does. That's by design. Our job is to make our partners look good.

As the travel eSIM market evolves, how does Telna help brands stay competitive and aligned with future customer expectations?

The direction is clear. Roaming will go digital. Every datapoint we see, activation volumes, traffic growth, and the pace at which new brands are entering this space, all point in the same direction. The question for every brand isn't whether to move; it's how fast and how much value they want to retain along the way.

That's why execution speed has become the real differentiator. The brands pulling ahead aren't doing anything fundamentally different in terms of vision. They're moving faster, with less friction between idea and market. Telna's full connectivity ecosystem, platform, app, webstore, and CRM are built to compress that distance. An MNO that decides today it wants to launch a branded travel eSIM product doesn't need to spend two years building toward it. That capability exists and is ready to deploy.

Our $100 million Growth Venture, launched in 2026, is a direct bet on where this market goes next. We're investing in the MVNOs, digital-first brands, and app ecosystems that are building connectivity into something broader - travel wallets, superapps, and premium service tiers where eSIM is the foundation, not a feature. Those partners get early access to platform capabilities and a partner that has a genuine stake in their success, not just a supplier relationship.

The infrastructure advantage compounds over time. So does the ecosystem. That's what we're building toward.

Telna is a global leader in providing managed wholesale eSIM platforms to MNOs, MVNOs, and other telecom providers. Telna's platform enables seamless eSIM activation, management, and connectivity across multiple devices and networks, offering innovative solutions that drive scalability and revenue growth for its partners.

To learn more about Telna, visit www.telna.com. You can also connect with Gregory on LinkedIn.