A sales SIM is a SIM that is ready for sale.

It will be in the “Available” state when it is delivered from Transatel, and is ready to be preactivated (PAYG offer) or activated via API or the Auriga interface before it can be used by a subscriber.

They have national UK telecoms resources attached to it, including:
·        ICCID: unique serial number of the SIM card
·        IMSI: identifier of the SIM on the telecoms network
·        MSISDN: mobile phone number

A swap SIM is a SIM card used to replace a sales SIM. Unlike the sales SIM, the swap SIM does not have an MSISDN attached to it, so that a user can reclaim their MSISDN.

An existing sales SIM must first be activated (or in the suspended state) before a SIM Swap can be performed.

They may be used for the following circumstances:
– A SIM (or a handset with the SIM inside) has been lost or stolen
– Their SIM has become damaged (i.e. worn from switching devices too often, or water damage)
– The subscriber is using a uSIM (3G-only SIM) and wants to benefit from 4G/5GNSA by upgrading to an iSIM
– The subscriber changes device and the format of the SIM is incompatible in the new device (Mini / Micro / Nano / eSIM) or the plastic frame has been lost to increase the size (i.e. from Micro to Mini SIM) according to the handset SIM card tray
– A fault is suspected on the SIM card and a swap is used to rule out/fix this type of anomaly
– (eSIM) the eSIM profile has been deleted from the device