Search for information about a mobile network operator and the internet will give you plenty of answers.
The problem is figuring out which answers are actually true.
Is a company a real network operator?
Is it an MVNO?
Does it own its own Mobile Network Code?
Which country is that network code assigned to?
Is the company still active?
Does it actually offer eSIM?
Is a network code current, historical or simply copied from an old database?
And perhaps most importantly:
Where did the information come from?
This is the problem eSIMGlobo is attempting to solve.
Rather than building another travel-eSIM comparison site, eSIMGlobo has developed Signal Atlas, an independent, evidence-led directory of mobile networks and connectivity providers built around official telecom-network identifiers and their sources.
At the time of this review, the platform contains:
- 1,980 network-code assignee records
- 216 countries and international scopes
- 2,486 PLMN assignments
- An official source attached to all 1,980 baseline records
The goal is deceptively simple:
Help people understand who a telecom provider is, where it operates, which network identifiers are verified, and where the evidence came from.
That may sound like a telecom database.
Look closer, though, and eSIMGlobo is trying to build something more interesting: an evidence layer for the global mobile-network ecosystem.
First: eSIMGlobo Is Not an eSIM Store
The name can easily create the wrong expectation.
Despite being called eSIMGlobo, the current product is not primarily a marketplace where travelers compare packages and purchase 10 GB of mobile data for their next holiday.
It is a global telecom-provider directory.
The site starts with network identity.
It asks:
- Which organization has been assigned this network code?
- What is its MCC?
- What is its MNC?
- What PLMN does that create?
- Which country or international scope does it belong to?
- What evidence supports that information?
- What do we still not know?
Only when additional information such as eSIM availability, plans, roaming, APN settings or device support has been independently verified should those facts become part of the provider profile.
That difference defines the product.
eSIMGlobo begins with evidence and expands outwardโnot with a commercial provider listing and assumptions added afterward.
The Foundation: ITU E.212 Network Data
To understand eSIMGlobo, it helps to understand the standard beneath it.
The directory is built from ITU-T E.212 network-code assignment information.
ITU-T Recommendation E.212 defines the international identification system used for public networks and subscriptions. The system identifies geographical areas, networks and subscriptions through a hierarchical numbering structure.
Three terms are especially important.
MCC โ Mobile Country Code
The MCC is generally a three-digit identifier associated with a country or international scope.
For example:
- Japan uses MCCs 440 and 441
- India uses 404 and 405
- South Korea uses 450
- The United States uses several codes including 310โ316
- International/shared networks can use codes such as 901
MNC โ Mobile Network Code
The MNC identifies a network within that MCC.
An MNC is generally two or three digits.
PLMN โ Public Land Mobile Network Identifier
Put the MCC and MNC together and you get the network’s PLMN identifier.
For example, eSIMGlobo records AT&T’s E.212 assignment 314-390, represented as PLMN:
314390
ITU describes the MCC and MNC together as providing sufficient information to identify the home network.
This gives eSIMGlobo something valuable to build upon:
a standardized identifier rather than just a marketing brand name.
Why Network Identity Matters
Telecom brands are messy.
Companies merge.
Brands disappear.
Networks are renamed.
One company operates multiple brands.
Several companies may share infrastructure.
MVNOs sell service without owning radio networks.
MVNEs provide infrastructure behind other providers.
Enterprise, government and private networks may possess network codes despite having no retail offering at all.
International networks can operate outside the normal country model.
And travel-eSIM companies can sell connectivity globally without owning an MCC/MNC of their own.
A simple list called โmobile operators by countryโ can therefore become misleading very quickly.
eSIMGlobo takes a more conservative approach.
A network-code assignment is presented as evidence that an entity holds that identifier.
It is not automatically treated as evidence that the entity currently operates a consumer mobile service, sells eSIMs or fits a particular commercial category.
That distinction is central to the whole directory.
Feature 1: Search Nearly 2,000 Telecom Records
The main search allows users to explore the current collection of 1,980 records using several kinds of information:
- Provider name
- Country
- Network code
- Provider type
That means the directory can be useful from several directions.
You may know the company but not the network code.
You may know the MCC/MNC but not recognize the network.
You may want to see every recorded assignee in a country.
Or you may be investigating a specific category of network entity.
Rather than forcing every search to begin with a familiar consumer brand, eSIMGlobo lets the technical network identity become the starting point.
Feature 2: Browse Telecom Networks by Country
One of the easiest ways to explore the platform is through the Countries & Scopes directory.
The current dataset spans 216 countries and international scopes.
Each country page brings its network-code records together and shows the MCCs associated with that market.
Take Japan as an example.
The current Japan directory contains 40 records across MCC 440 and 441.
Among the entities represented are:
- KDDI Corporation
- NTT DOCOMO
- Rakuten Mobile Network
- SoftBank
- Internet Initiative Japan
- SORACOM
- Fujitsu
- Sony Wireless Communications
- Nokia Innovations Japan
- Several infrastructure, cable and enterprise-network entities
This immediately demonstrates why the directory is not merely a list of consumer mobile brands.
A country’s E.212 landscape can include traditional operators alongside infrastructure companies, IoT networks, private-network operators and other assignees.
Feature 3: Explore the World Through MCC Network Codes
Sometimes you start with a number rather than a company.
eSIMGlobo therefore maintains a dedicated Network Codes / MCC index.
The current directory exposes 224 Mobile Country Codes represented in its registry.
A user investigating:
440
can connect it to Japan.
Someone researching:
404
or:
405
can reach India.
262 maps to Germany.
310 through several related MCC ranges connect to the United States.
And 901 represents an international shared-code environment rather than one conventional country.
This can make eSIMGlobo particularly useful for engineers and analysts who encounter MCC/MNC values in:
- Mobile-network logs
- SIM or modem diagnostics
- IoT devices
- Roaming records
- Telecom APIs
- Connectivity platforms
- Network configuration
- eSIM platforms
- Cellular troubleshooting
Instead of searching an unexplained number through random tables across the web, the number can lead to a structured provider record.
Feature 4: Dedicated Provider Profiles
Every network-code assignee in the baseline has its own provider page.
A provider profile begins with a concise identity summary and can include:
- Official record name
- Internal provider record ID
- Provider classification
- Classification basis
- Country or operating scope
- Network codes
- E.212 assignment count
- Consumer-service status
- Verification state
- Date last verified
- MCC
- MNC
- PLMN
- Assignment status
- Evidence
- Change history
- Related records
- FAQs
Consider the AT&T example.
Rather than relying on the reader’s existing knowledge of AT&T, the baseline page states exactly what the evidence being used proves: an official E.212 assignment under the United States for network code 314-390.
It then separately states that the commercial MNO/MVNO classification has not yet been independently verified within eSIMGlobo’s evidence model.
That may feel almost excessively cautious for a famous operator.
But it reveals something important about how the platform is designed.
Brand familiarity is not being treated as a substitute for evidence.
Feature 5: Every Important Claim Can Point Back to Evidence
A telecom directory becomes far more useful when the reader can ask:
โWhy should I believe this?โ
eSIMGlobo attaches an Evidence & Sources section to provider profiles.
Its baseline dataset comes from official ITU E.212 assignment records, and the platform reports that every one of its initial 1,980 records carries an official source URL.
For further enrichment, eSIMGlobo publishes a source hierarchy that prioritizes:
- National telecom regulators and government records
- Official provider websites, policies, price sheets, coverage maps and support information
- ITU and recognized standards or industry bodies
- Provider-supplied material with verifiable ownership
- Independent measurement or reputable primary research
- Clearly identified user reports
This hierarchy matters.
A price copied by an anonymous comparison site should not carry the same evidentiary weight as a provider’s current official price sheet.
A claimed network role should not become โverifiedโ merely because dozens of websites copied the same unsupported statement.
Feature 6: โUnknownโ Is Treated as Real Data
This might be the most important feature of the entire platform.
Many databases hate empty fields.
If something cannot be found, there is a temptation to turn missing data into:
No
That is dangerous.
There is a huge difference between:
โThis provider does not support eSIM.โ
and:
โWe have not yet verified whether this provider supports eSIM.โ
eSIMGlobo explicitly preserves that distinction.
Its data policy defines states such as:
- Verified
- Official-source supported
- Reported but not yet verified
- Historical
- Disputed
- Not publicly disclosed
- Not yet researched
- Not applicable
Missing information is not automatically converted into a negative claim.
That may sound like a small editorial rule.
It is actually a major data-quality principle.
Absence of evidence is not automatically evidence of absence.
Feature 7: Publication Tiers Show How Mature a Record Is
Not every provider page is equally complete, and eSIMGlobo does not pretend otherwise.
The methodology defines several publication levels.
Tier 0 โ Registry Baseline
The record originates from the registry baseline and has not yet received full editorial enrichment.
Tier 1 โ Identity Verified
The record adds stronger identity verification, current or historical status, role information or an explicit explanation that the role remains unresolved, together with multiple authoritative references.
Tier 2 โ Enriched
Additional meaningful provider, service, network, contact and policy information is sourced.
Tier 3 โ Gold
The profile reaches the platform’s higher enrichment standard.
This tiering system gives the directory a way to grow without disguising incomplete profiles as finished research.
Feature 8: A Much Larger Provider Profile Is Planned Beneath the Baseline
The current registry is only the starting layer.
Provider pages reveal that the full eSIMGlobo profile model spans 46 sections and potentially 1,309 fields.
The broader schema includes areas such as:
- Provider identity
- Network identity
- Evidence and verification
- Accounts and apps
- Customer support
- Business and enterprise services
- USSD and service codes
- Physical SIM information
- eSIM support
- Roaming
- Plan pricing
- Device compatibility
- APN and technical settings
- Payment and billing
- Network technology
For many present-day Tier 0 pages, only a small percentage of those fields are populated.
And that is shown openly.
Instead of filling the page with generic text, the interface can say:
Not documented.
The site also indicates that operators can claim their profiles and help complete the remaining information.
If that enrichment model develops successfully, eSIMGlobo could move from being primarily a network-code directory toward something closer to a structured knowledge base for global connectivity providers.
Feature 9: Provider Types Go Beyond MNO and MVNO
Real telecom ecosystems cannot be represented with just two labels.
The current eSIMGlobo homepage separates its records into categories including:
- Network-code assignee โ exact MNO/MVNO role unresolved
- International shared-code assignee
- Private, enterprise, government or test network-code assignee
- MVNO โ subtype not verified
- Mobile Virtual Network Enabler
- International trial shared-code assignee
- Other-purpose shared-code assignee
For example, the current registry explicitly classifies Cellact Communications Ltd as an MVNO because โMVNOโ appears in the underlying official assignee name.
Similarly, CIRCLES MVNE International B.V. is classified as a Mobile Virtual Network Enabler because the role is explicitly present in the official record name.
This is a good illustration of eSIMGlobo’s approach:
classify when the evidence supports classification; otherwise keep the role unresolved.
Feature 10: International and Shared Networks Are First-Class Records
Mobile connectivity is no longer exclusively tied to conventional national operators.
Satellite connectivity, global IoT, aviation, maritime networks and internationally shared services increasingly operate across borders.
eSIMGlobo includes international shared-code assignments rather than trying to force every provider underneath a country.
Its worldwide/shared-code page currently contains 80 records associated with MCC 901, including organizations such as:
- 1NCE
- AST SpaceMobile
- AT&T
- BICS
- BBIX Singapore
- Bouygues Telecom
- Several global connectivity and infrastructure companies
The official ITU database likewise maintains E.212 shared mobile-code assignments, confirming that these international identifiers are a formal part of the E.212 ecosystem.
This makes the directory more relevant as connectivity continues moving beyond the traditional:
country โ carrier โ SIM
model.
Feature 11: Change History Adds Time to the Data
Telecom information changes.
An assignment today may not have existed five years ago.
A provider may be renamed.
An MNC may be returned or reassigned.
A network’s commercial status may change.
Provider pages therefore include change-history information such as:
- When the record was first seen
- The date of its last recorded change
- The date through which the profile data was checked
The directory itself also maintains a public changes page.
Its initial baseline, recorded on July 21, 2026, imported 1,980 E.212 network-code assignee records across 216 countries and scopes and created a stable page for each record.
That is important because data without time context can easily become misleading.
Feature 12: Corrections Require Evidence
Crowdsourced information can improve a directory.
It can also destroy one.
eSIMGlobo therefore allows readers to report incorrect or missing information but asks them to provide:
- The relevant record
- The corrected information
- An official source that can be checked
The site states that it will not publish personal contact details scraped from third-party sites and only adds correction facts that can be supported by an official source.
That creates a useful balance:
community input without turning the directory into an unverified wiki.
Feature 13: Telecom Terminology Is Explained
Network databases quickly become unreadable for anyone who does not live inside the telecom industry.
eSIMGlobo therefore includes a glossary for terms such as:
- MNO
- MVNO
- MVNE
- MVNA
- MCC
- MNC
- PLMN
- E.212
- eSIM
- APN
- IMSI
- VoLTE
This makes the platform potentially useful not only to telecom professionals, but also to software engineers, IoT developers, cybersecurity researchers and technically curious travelers who encounter these terms for the first time.
Feature 14: No Advertising Trackers or Unnecessary Cookies
The site’s privacy model is unusually simple.
According to its current privacy policy, eSIMGlobo operates as a static website, does not run visitor advertising or tracking, and does not place non-essential cookiesโso it does not need a cookie-consent banner for those purposes.
Normal web-server access logs may still contain information such as:
- IP address
- Timestamp
- Requested URL
- User agent
but the site says those logs are retained for security and reliability rather than individual profiling.
For a research-oriented directory, the absence of advertising incentives also fits naturally with its independent positioning.
Feature 15: Core Provider Data Works Without JavaScript
Another thoughtful implementation choice appears in the site’s accessibility policy.
eSIMGlobo targets WCAG 2.2 AA and states that it provides:
- Semantic landmarks and headings
- Skip navigation
- Keyboard-accessible navigation
- Visible focus indicators
- Text status alongside colors and icons
- Responsive tables
- Reduced-motion support
- Print stylesheets
Most importantly for a data directory, its core provider information remains available without JavaScript.
JavaScript enhances the search experience, but the underlying records remain browseable.
That is a good design choice for a reference site whose primary product is information.
Who Can Use eSIMGlobo?
The platform can potentially serve several very different audiences.
Telecom Engineers
Engineers can look up MCC/MNC/PLMN information while investigating network identity, roaming behavior or carrier configuration.
IoT Engineers
Cellular IoT devices frequently expose network identifiers that need to be mapped back to an operator or assignment.
eSIM and Connectivity Platforms
Companies building eSIM, roaming or connectivity products need to understand the relationships between network identifiers, operators and international connectivity providers.
Developers
Applications working with SIM, IMSI, cellular-network or carrier metadata often need reliable normalization of operator information.
Cybersecurity and Fraud Analysts
Network identifiers can provide context when analyzing mobile infrastructure, suspicious connectivity or carrier-related metadata.
Telecom Researchers
Researchers can browse network assignments by geography, code and organization while retaining links to official evidence.
Technology Journalists
Instead of repeating an unsourced carrier classification, journalists can trace the underlying assignment and distinguish verified facts from unresolved commercial details.
Travelers and Consumers
For consumers, the value is currently more research-oriented. The directory may help explain the networks behind mobile connectivity, but it should not yet be treated as a complete comparison engine for current retail plans or eSIM products.
What eSIMGlobo Does NOT Prove
This section may be the most important one for anyone using the directory.
An E.212 assignment tells us something specific:
an entity has been assigned a particular mobile-network identifier.
It does not, by itself, prove that:
- The entity currently offers retail mobile service
- It is definitely an MNO
- It is definitely an MVNO
- It currently sells eSIMs
- Its plans are commercially available
- The company is still actively marketing that network
- Every MVNO operating in that country is represented
eSIMGlobo repeatedly highlights this distinction.
There is also an important structural limitation to E.212-based discovery.
Many light MVNOs, service-provider MVNOs, MVNE/MVNA relationships and travel-eSIM resellers may not hold their own MNC at all. They therefore cannot be discovered exhaustively simply by enumerating E.212 assignments.
That means:
eSIMGlobo should not currently be interpreted as a complete list of every mobile or eSIM company operating commercially in the world.
The site itself makes the same distinction.
An Important Data-Freshness Caveat
eSIMGlobo is still a young and evolving directory.
The current public change log shows its initial 1,980-record baseline being established in July 2026. Many provider profiles remain Tier 0 registry records with very low profile completeness.
Its Terms of Use also explicitly state that, although the project aims to be accurate and evidence-led, it does not guarantee that every record is current or complete and recommends confirming critical information with the operator or regulator.
That is especially important in telecom, where assignments and company structures can change.
For high-stakes technical, contractual or regulatory decisions, eSIMGlobo is best used as:
a discovery and evidence-navigation layerโnot the final authority replacing a regulator or provider.
Why eSIMGlobo’s Approach Is Interesting
Most directories compete by trying to contain more information.
eSIMGlobo appears to be taking a slightly different position.
It is trying to make it clear how much confidence you should place in each piece of information.
Consider these two databases:
Database A
| Provider | MNO | eSIM | 5G |
|---|---|---|---|
| Example Telecom | Yes | No | Yes |
It looks complete.
But where did those answers come from?
When were they checked?
Did โNoโ actually mean noโor did the database simply fail to find the information?
Now imagine:
Database B
| Fact | Status | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Network assignment | Verified | ITU |
| MNO status | Not yet independently verified | โ |
| eSIM availability | Not yet researched | โ |
| 5G availability | Official-source supported | Provider |
Database B looks less complete.
But intellectually, it is far more useful.
That appears to be the philosophy behind eSIMGlobo.
Completeness is not allowed to outrank truthfulness.
From a Network-Code Directory to a Global Connectivity Knowledge Base
The current eSIMGlobo is still primarily a strong registry foundation.
But the data model suggests a considerably broader ambition.
Imagine a provider record where network identity can eventually connect to verified information about:
Identity โ Network Codes โ Technologies โ SIM โ eSIM โ APN โ Roaming โ Plans โ Pricing โ Devices โ Support โ Business Services โ Billing โ Evidence โ Change History
If each important fact maintains its source and verification status, eSIMGlobo could evolve beyond a directory into a structured knowledge graph of the global connectivity industry.
That would be valuable because the telecom ecosystem is becoming more complicated, not less.
We now have:
- Traditional MNOs
- Full and light MVNOs
- MVNEs and MVNAs
- IoT connectivity providers
- Global eSIM providers
- Private 5G networks
- Satellite-to-device networks
- International shared-code networks
- Enterprise cellular networks
- Roaming aggregators
- Connectivity-as-a-service platforms
The line between โmobile operatorโ and โconnectivity providerโ is becoming increasingly difficult to describe with one label.
A directory that preserves those distinctionsโand shows its evidenceโhas room to become genuinely useful.
Final Thoughts
There are already plenty of websites that can tell you the name of a mobile operator.
That is not the interesting problem anymore.
The difficult questions are:
Who actually owns the network identifier?
What does that identifier prove?
Which commercial role is genuinely verified?
Where did that information originate?
When was it last checked?
And what remains unknown?
eSIMGlobo is building its directory around those questions.
Its first layer is the global E.212 network-assignment system: currently 1,980 assignee records, 2,486 PLMN assignments and 216 countries or international scopes.
On top of that foundation, it is establishing an evidence model for gradually adding network technology, eSIM, SIM, roaming, plans, pricing, support, device compatibility, APN, billing and other provider information without silently converting assumptions into facts.
That is what makes the platform worth watching.
eSIMGlobo is not trying merely to create a bigger telecom list.
It is trying to create a telecom directory where a reader can distinguish:
what is known, what is sourced, what is historical, what is disputedโand what nobody has verified yet.
In a part of the internet filled with copied carrier lists, outdated network codes and unsourced eSIM claims, that may prove considerably more valuable than simply having another database.
Explore eSIMGlobo โ the evidence-led Signal Atlas for global telecom providers.
I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.
I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.
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