Ymobile

The UK’s first eSIM-only mobile network.

Ymobile launched in November 2024 with no SIM card, no shop and data-led plans you set up in an app. We tested eSIM set-up with real people, then built the platform underneath.

Infrastructure + security

eSIM-only network

UK first

Launched in November 2024, with no SIM card to post and no shop to visit

eSIM code

Instant

New customers waited up to six hours for the code to set up their eSIM. We found it in testing and made it instant.

Plans and set-up

In-app

Choose a plan, scan a code and join the network, all from the phone

At a glance

Client: Ymobile, through Vitrifi Digital
Sector: Telecoms and consumer mobile
Platforms: iOS, Android and the cloud
What we did: User research, prototype testing, cloud infrastructure, live usage data, security and access

Why it mattered

Getting a phone shouldn’t mean waiting for the post.

Most networks still post a plastic SIM or send you to a shop. With eSIM, a phone joins a network by scanning a code, so the wait disappears.

For peopleConnected from the appPick a plan, scan a code and you’re on the network. Nothing arrives in the post.

For the businessNo shop, no stockWith no SIM cards to post or shops to run, everything rides on the app working first time.

For the industryWhere phones are headingApple’s iPhone Air, launched in September 2025, is eSIM-only. Ymobile went eSIM-only ten months earlier.

Set-up in the app

Scan, install, connected. No SIM card in the post.

We tested each step with real people, through interviews, a survey and clickable prototypes. Their worries, like losing their number, shaped every screen.

9:41

No service

Scan to add your eSIM

Point your camera at the code

1Scan
2Install
3Connect
4Use

Illustrative screens. Every step happens in the app, with nothing in the post.

Found in testing

From six hours to straight away.

Testing the whole journey showed the eSIM’s QR code could take up to six hours to arrive. We traced the hold-up and fixed it, and the codes started arriving straight away.

Before: testers waited for their code

Up to 6 hours

Order
eSIM
Email
Inbox

Inbox

Ymobile5h 52mWaiting for your eSIM…Scan the code to install
Ymobile9:02Your order is confirmedYour eSIM is on its way by email

Found in user testing, November to December 2023. Illustrative inbox.

One recipe

Every environment set up the same way.

Sandbox, staging and production were all built from one recipe. So every change could be tried twice before a customer ever saw it.

Three environments from one recipe

One recipeEvery environment set up from the same instructions

Sandbox
- App
- Data
- Access
Staging
- App
- Data
- Access
Production
- App
- Data
- Access

Customers

Illustrative changes. Customers only ever see production.

Live usage data

Usage the team could see as it happened.

A mobile network creates a constant stream of data. We built the platform that brought it together, so the team could watch usage live and spot problems early.

Live usageLiveAll normal

PhonesLast hour

Phones online: 1,284
Data this hour: 212 GB

Illustrative data.

Security

Locked down from the first day.

Only the access each job needsEvery person and partner got the access their role needed, and no more.

Production off-limits by defaultDay-to-day users on the live data platform had user rights, not admin.

Every upload scannedFiles were checked for viruses before anything processed them.

Monitoring built inThe data platform reported its own health, so issues showed up early.

The build

From the first interview to launch day.

We worked with Ymobile and Vitrifi Digital from autumn 2023 to launch, on the research, the app and the platform underneath.

Oct 2023User researchInterviews, a survey and prototype tests on eSIM set-up.
Nov 2023FoundationsSandbox, staging and production, set up from one recipe.
2024Data and accessLive usage data, monitoring and tight access controls.
13 Nov 2024Ymobile launchedThe UK’s first eSIM-only mobile network, with data-led plans on Three’s 4G and 5G.
TodayA platform for mobile brandsThe white-label app, the infrastructure and the data platform can carry more than one brand.

Every step has been authentic and the level of collaboration has been proactive. You constantly throw ideas at us and challenge us, it’s an easy collaboration and I’ve seen others where it’s like pulling teeth but this has been excellent.

Sebastian Corpe

Head of Product, Ymobile

Head of Product

Ymobile

“The Contic team are particularly adept at problem solving, able to apply the learnings they have gained from working across many industries to troubleshoot any problem and come up with creative solutions.”

Sebastian CorpeHead of Product, Ymobile

Why Contic?

We test it with people, then build what’s underneath.

Ymobile needed set-up simple enough for anyone, on a platform safe enough to run a network. We did both, from the first interview to launch day.

Talk to us See our work

Launching a digital-only service?We’ll set up the infrastructure, access and monitoring so it’s safe from the first customer. Cloud infrastructure

Need an app that sets itself up?We build iOS and Android apps that take people from sign-up to working in a few taps. Product development

Not sure what will confuse people?We test your journey with real people before you build it. Product design