Gotta say, I love this idea. You’re with Telstra or any other telco and you think “I can’t switch away because their service isn’t as good in my area” – well when was the last time YOU checked.

Optus has today launched the “Optus Network Trial” – a simple, no cost, no commitment 7-day trial of their network all done within their app.

You have to have a reasonably modern phone that has eSIM capabilities to give it a go, but if you do – it’s worth a crack.

Basically, you do it all in the My Optus App.

And all you need is one form of ID to sign up:

Enter those details and then from there, I assume it downloads an eSIM to your phone.

Updated (24/7) – When I first published this I noted that I was unable to register for the trial because my email had an Optus Account already. Well, it turns out, that’s ok! You just need to login with that account. So as long as you haven’t previously done the trial, or been an Optus customer in the last six months – you’re good to go.

What I did (not knowing my login) was follow the forgotten password process, and reset my account. Once logged in, I could go back and do the setup process.

The process from there is honestly, 5 minutes of your time, and maybe 15-20 mins waiting before it’s all squared up and working.

You verify all the details, get a sense of the plan (30GB of data in 7 days, i WILL be doing speed tests!) and move forward.

From there it’s a process on your phone. And this is where eSIMs are really cool. No physical plastic, just a “download” which you need to authorise:

Of course, you do!

Next step is to assign that SIM to various parts of your phone’s capabilities.

I don’t recommend making it default for calls and texts, that will confuse your family who won’t know that it’s you calling.

Instead, make it default for data. And when you want to make calls out with that number, that’s easily done in the call/phone app.

From there, you wait.

And very soon you’ll see two network indicators on your screen;

And if you call your wife:

Make sure you do it from your main SIM with YOUR number, or like mine did to me, she will send you to voicemail!

I really love this concept.

7 days, 30GB of data to play with, and off you go!

By signing up to the trial, you can then use the features in the My Optus app to check out local towers, and their “Network Pulse” for connection strength.

I’ve never seen these features, which Optus has been banging on about, so an actual network trial is exactly the way to show people what they can get. And these features are excellent, the App and Product team should be very proud:

Maurice McCarthy, Managing Director Customer Success at Optus says “We’re incredibly excited to launch the Optus Network Trial. It’s a bold move that showcases our confidence in our network. 

“With the convenience of eSIM and our highly-rated My Optus app, customers can keep their existing number whilst testing the Optus mobile network.

“We believe that once customers experience the Optus difference, they’ll make the switch with confidence”, Mr McCarthy explains.

You get a new number during the test, but after that you can switch your existing number over if you choose.