A week ago we reported that Telstra has been contacting customers about a potential issue with Pixel 4 phones connected by eSIM. After some discussion, the issue has been confirmed as a potentially unlikely sequence of events with significant impact should the variables all line-up.
For the Pixel phones to be unable to contact emergency services in Australia, multiple issues — some unlikely — need to happen.
- The user needs to be in a 4G only coverage area
- Have no physical SIM in the phone
- Have deleted a previously activated eSIM
NB. A user with a brand new phone or one that has not yet activated an eSIM is not susceptible to this issue.
A Telstra spokesperson provided Ausdroid with the following statement:
While we haven’t received any reports or complaints, we take this issue seriously and are working with Google to issue a fix over a future firmware update.
As per our previous post, it’s unclear as to why a user would delete their eSIM without a physical SIM or another eSIM to immediately move to. It’s great to see Telstra taking their responsibility seriously as a communications provider.
