The story of how I lost my phone line for a whole day due to an eSIM MNP

The story of how I lost my phone line for a whole day due to an eSIM MNP

I lost my phone line for a whole day during an eSIM MNP from ahamo to UQ.
I believe the same thing could happen with any carrier if the conditions are right.

If you are planning to do this, you should be a little careful.

Conclusion

With an eSIM MNP,
if you make one wrong move, your entire line can disappear.

Furthermore,

• you cannot recover it immediately

• and the recovery process is difficult to understand

—you will easily find yourself in that situation.

The Beginning

My main line was ahamo.

However,

• it was weak indoors

• and it would drop during peak times,

so I was considering switching.

When I asked AI (Gemini) in mid-March, information about a "UQ Mobile campaign from 3/27 to 3/31" came up, so I decided to go ahead with the MNP.

Initial State

My iPhone already had two eSIMs installed.

• Main line (ahamo)

• Sub line (povo, unused state)

In this state, I will add a UQ eSIM.

The structure of MNP (this is important)

When you proceed with the procedure, the order is as follows.

1. Switch the existing line (ahamo)

2. Install the UQ eSIM after that

In other words,

If it stops in the middle, you will be left without a connection.

I understood the danger of this procedure itself.
It was clear that the structure would result in losing the connection if it stopped halfway.

However, that was not the problem.

For the UQ procedure,you cannot download the eSIM unless you switch the line.
In other words, youmust pass through this risky state.

I haven't been able to confirm why it is in this order, but
at the very least, there is no means provided for the user to safely avoid it.

As a result, you end up in a state where you have no choice but to proceed even though you know it is dangerous.

Another trap: the third eSIM

The core of this issue lies here.

Normally, when you add an eSIM, it is enabled as is and activation begins.
However, this time, two lines were already turned ON.

If you add a third one in this state,

• it will not turn ON

• and activation will not start either

As a result, it looks like nothing is happening.

And then, an accident occurs

The eSIM that appeared in that state.

The display name was 'Travel'.

• It wasn't turned on

• It hadn't been activated either

• The name made no sense

No matter how I looked at it, it didn't seem like the line I was setting up.

Furthermore, associating it with my memory of using UQ on an iPad in the past, I mistakenly assumed it was 'something from the past'.

(In reality, it wasn't an eSIM at that time, so this assumption didn't hold up.)

As a result,

I deleted it.

Game over.

What happened at that moment was simple:

• ahamo -> already disconnected via MNP

• UQ -> deleted by myself

= zero lines

Moreover, since it was an MNP, the phone number itself was left in limbo.

My iPhone became just a slab of glass.

• No calls

• No SMS

It was only then that I understood.

I messed up...

I try to restore it but get stuck

I go to the reissue page via Wi-Fi.

→ "Please try again tomorrow"

Restoration is not possible on the same day.

Support

I can connect to chat support.

The guidance is as follows.

• To restore it today, go to a store

• And it costs money

At this point, I have to give up on restoring it that day.

The next day: even more traps

The next morning, I try to reissue it.

When I access it from a PC, it just gives an error. I found out the reason later.

You can only complete the procedure from an iPhone.

However,

• On a PC, it only displays an error

• It does not provide guidance on the correct method

In other words,you are not guided to the correct answer.

An even more burdensome specification

You realize it when you start over from the iPhone.

It's not just a simple eSIM re-download;
you have to start the line switching procedure all over again.

In other words,

deleting the eSIM means resetting the entire procedure.

Recovery

• Re-apply from the iPhone

• Redo the line switch

• Re-acquire the eSIM

Only then is it finally restored.

Result

Almost a full day with absolutely no line access.

It became a situation you rarely see these days.

What was the problem?

What I first realized from this incident was the gravity of the action of deleting an eSIM.
If you touch it with the feeling that you are just deleting a single setting, the line itself simply disappears.

What's even more complicated is the behavior of the added eSIM.
If you already have multiple lines enabled, the newly added line is not automatically activated, and it looks like nothing has happened.
My poor judgment this time almost entirely started from here.

On top of that, the display name "Travel" appears.
When a label that makes no sense is combined with a state of no response, humans judge it as "something irrelevant."

In addition, the structure of MNP itself is high-risk.
Because the line switching and eSIM activation are separated, if it stops in the middle, you end up in a state where the line does not exist.

And finally, the recovery path.
Re-issuance on the same day is not possible, there are device restrictions on the procedure, and the guidance provided is not sufficient.
As a result, it was in a state where it was extremely difficult to understand "what to do after you're stuck."

Lesson learned

• eSIM is over the moment you delete it

• Even if it looks like it's not working, don't touch it

• Assume you will have 'no service' during the MNP process

• Check the recovery procedure in advance

• There is no guarantee it can be restored on the same day

Summary

The collapse this time was simple,

・MNP interruption
・Misidentification of an inactive eSIM
・Deletion
・Traps in the recovery path

These things just happened to align.

Finally

By the way, the UQ mobile signal that I finally got after a whole day is currently working perfectly indoors.
I've decided to think of those 24 hours of despair as a 'ritual' to obtain this signal.

For those who will do this in the future:

Before you delete anything, confirm exactly what it is.

That alone will prevent this accident.

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