> it quite often can take 24-48 hours for your physical SIM to activate
In my world, I land in an airport, purchase a SIM card and it works before I leave the airport (or the operator’s desk). It’s often that way with eSIMs purchased via Airalo.
The delay could appear when your transferring your number, but even then you can still use a temporary number until the old one overrides it.
Pre-paid SIMs are different they are usually pre-provisioned or have an expedient path since there is less KYC and other checks that need to be performed.
In my world, I land in an airport, purchase a SIM card and it works before I leave the airport (or the operator’s desk). It’s often that way with eSIMs purchased via Airalo.
The delay could appear when your transferring your number, but even then you can still use a temporary number until the old one overrides it.