Comprehensive technical knowledge base covering 12 GSMA eSIM specifications. 84+ articles on Remote SIM Provisioning — SGP.02, SGP.22, SGP.32, SGP.41, SGP.29, SGP.23, SGP.25, SGP.26 and more.
Every dollar bill in your wallet has a unique serial number. No two bills share the same one. If you could look up that number, you’d know exactly which printing press made it and when. That’s what the EID is for eSIM chips: a 32-digit fingerprint for every eSIM chip, like a serial number on a dollar bill.
The EID (eUICC Identifier) is a globally unique 32-digit number burned into every eSIM chip on the planet. It’s the chip’s secret name: and SGP.29 is the rulebook that says how these names are created, who hands them out, and how they stay unique.
Before SGP.29, EIDs were a bit of a mess. They used a system designed for credit-card-style SIM cards (called ICCID), managed by different national authorities with different rules. Three big problems:
| Problem | What Went Wrong |
|---|---|
| Wrong tool for the job | EIDs identify chips, not payment accounts: forcing them into a billing-number system was a mismatch |
| Too many bosses | Different countries had different rules. Some manufacturers couldn’t get EIDs at all! |
| No central referee | Without one authority, nobody could guarantee names were truly unique worldwide |
In 2019, the eSIM industry said: “Enough!” They asked the GSMA (the global mobile industry association) to become the central librarian for all EIDs. SGP.29 v1.0 was born on 31 July 2020.
SGP.29 sets six golden rules for EIDs. Here are the most important ones:
| Rule | Meaning |
|---|---|
| EID.P02 | An EID’s one job: uniquely identify one eSIM chip: period |
| EID.P03 | The EID is NOT a payment account number: you can’t charge money to it! |
| EID.P04 | The EID is NOT for billing phone calls |
| EID.P05 | EID assignment is completely separate from old SIM card numbering |
| EID.P06 | EIDs don’t have to start with “89” (unlike old SIM cards) |
This is crucial: the EID says “I am Chip #12345…” : it does NOT say “I belong to Alex” or “charge this account.” The EID identifies hardware, not people.
The EID isn’t just a label: it’s used actively throughout the eSIM world:
| Where It’s Used | What the EID Does |
|---|---|
| SM-DS (Discovery Service) | Matches waiting profiles to the right chip : “Is there a key for EID 12345…?” |
| ES11 Polling | The helper app asks: “Any pending downloads for my EID?” |
| ES8+ Profile Download | The Key Maker locks the profile to one specific EID so nobody else can use it |
| Event Registration | Subscribes a specific chip to notifications: “Tell EID 12345… when its key is ready” |
Without a globally unique EID, the eSIM Key Maker couldn’t tell your chip apart from anyone else’s!
SGP.29 puts the GSMA in charge as the First Level EIN Assignment Authority. Think of them as the head librarian who hands out blocks of book ISBNs:
But don’t worry: EIDs issued under the old system still work! SGP.29 creates a new, cleaner path forward without breaking anything that already exists.
There are enough possible 32-digit EIDs to give a unique name to every grain of sand on Earth: billions of times over! The numbering space is deliberately enormous so we’ll never, ever run out.
Kid-friendly version of GSMA SGP.29 v1.1: EID Definition and Assignment Process