Telekom 2023–2026: A Retrospective – eSIM, Apple Watch Roaming, and Why We're Still Behind Romania

Well, another three years with Telekom have gone by. I thought it was time for an honest look back: what worked, what didn't, and where Hungarian mobile service stands today – based not on the adverts, but on everyday use.

The short answer: in quality and functionality, Hungary is still far behind. Not just behind the developed Western countries, but behind Romania too, where the providers have been able to do more for years – and I'm not saying this in theory, but from my own watch and my mother's.

Why I prefer eSIM, and why it makes sense to use a modern service like this, I've already written about many times and in detail in the Telekom Apple eSIM, Apple Watch and MultiSIM case study. This article is the big picture: all my Telekom stories between 2023 and 2026, in one place.

Where We Started: Telekom → Vodafone → Telekom Again

Telekom and I didn't just meet. In 2010, CSE Business Kft. signed with Telekom, and we stayed for seven years. In 2017 we moved to Vodafone – simply because the service was much better, and it was cheaper too.

In August 2022 I became a Telekom subscriber again. The reason was very simple: in Hungary, only Telekom offered and supported the Apple Watch eSIM. If you wanted to use a cellular Apple Watch with your own Hungarian number, you had no choice.

2022: An eSIM That Only Worked on Paper

From day one it was clear that the eSIM didn't work properly – and in roaming, abroad, it didn't work at all. The classic "ping-pong" began: Telekom pointed at Apple, Apple pointed at Telekom. After several attempts, Apple said: wait for the software update that enables roaming.

The new iOS and the new watchOS arrived. Roaming didn't.

Apple delivered the update. Roaming still didn't arrive.

2023: Eight Months – and an NMHH Case

The case ran from February to October 2023, and it wasn't just emails. An official trouble ticket, tests in Austria and Slovakia, a complaint letter to senior management – and when that didn't lead anywhere either, I opened a case with the National Media and Infocommunications Authority (NMHH).

Throughout, I acted as Csaba Stefan Bakó on behalf of my own company, CSE Business Kft. – after all, the subscription belongs to the company. What's more, since the faulty services didn't only affect me, I asked CSE Business Kft.'s clients to open trouble tickets with Telekom based on their own experience.

After many letters, in the summer of 2023 it finally turned out that they had found the fault: on 10 July, Telekom admitted that the TeleMátrix service and VoLTE roaming were not compatible. In August the actual fix began, on 5 September came the notification that the Apple Watch could be used in roaming, and by October it worked with full functionality.

The full, day-by-day timeline is in the original case study.

When a Complaint Turned into a Data Protection and Trade Secret Incident

On 19 May 2023 the case took a turn I didn't expect. Someone at Telekom looked at my LinkedIn profile and saw that I was working for DXC Technology. But I wasn't a DXC employee: CSE Business Kft. provided services to DXC, and I worked as a contractor.

A certain person at Telekom then – referring to my NMHH report – called DXC, contacted my functional manager, and asked them to stop me.

DXC started an internal investigation, I opened an incident with Telekom – as a data protection and trade secret incident – and in June 2023 Telekom's Security Directorate also started a separate procedure.

The incident was eventually closed, and officially nobody found anything. What's certain, though, is that we got a few people moving.

We started with a roaming fault and ended up with a data protection incident.

For me, this shows best what's missing at large companies: they can't handle a customer who insists on their rights in a documented way, going to the authority. Instead of fixing the fault, they try to silence the person – and along the way they can't tell apart the private individual, the contracting company and the client.

Meanwhile in Romania: The Opposite Situation – Within the Same Telekom Group

And here comes the part that shows the difference best. While I travelled to Romania with my Hungarian Telekom eSIM Apple Watch and the watch simply didn't connect in roaming, my mother came from Romania to Hungary with her Romanian eSIM Apple Watch – and for her, roaming worked.

The most interesting part: at that time my mother was with Telekom Romania. Telekom signal, Telekom logo everywhere. In 2021 Orange only bought the fixed-line business; the mobile service kept running as Telekom Romania Mobile until October 2025, owned by OTE, part of the Deutsche Telekom group.

In Romania today, the Apple Watch eSIM works with both Orange and Vodafone – abroad, in roaming, too. Orange launched the Apple Watch eSIM back in December 2019, two and a half years before Telekom Hungary. In Austria, A1 launched it in June 2019; in Germany, Deutsche Telekom supported the cellular Apple Watch as early as 2017.

I've written up the full comparison – Romania, Germany, Austria, Hungary, with the Romanian ownership changes and the German subscribers in Spain – on a separate page.

2024–2025: Finally, It Worked

In 2024 and 2025 the Apple Watch worked in roaming, more or less reliably. It looked as if the 2023 fight had paid off, and we had finally made it.

September 2025 – March 2026: The iPhone 17 Pro, Six Months Late

In September 2025 I ordered a new iPhone 17 Pro and a new Apple Watch. The salesperson suggested that I also sign a new business phone subscription – that's how I got 30% off the monthly fee, plus more than HUF 200,000 net discount on the two devices together.

On 26 September I walked out of the shop happy with the Apple Watch, hoping the iPhone 17 Pro would follow soon.

It didn't follow soon. More than 20–30 emails went to Telekom and customer service before the iPhone 17 Pro finally arrived in March 2026 – roughly six months late. Around the same time, I also had Telekom's home service connected in the new flat at Vágóhíd utca 9.

Since I now had a fixed-line service as well, I thought it was time to ask: what about the discount, the extra subscription and the six-month delay? Could I ask for a goodwill gesture?

To be honest: part of this is my own fault. At the time I accepted the extra business subscription straight away to get the discount – and from then on I paid the monthly fee, while the phone I had signed up for wasn't in my hands for six months.

The subscription started immediately. The phone arrived six months later.

2026: Telekom eSIM and Spain – Apple Watch eSIM Reloaded

Then came 2026 and the eclipse. I went to Spain to plan a trip for the total solar eclipse on 12 August 2026 – and of course you add a few days at the beach. Swimming, the phone on the beach or at the hotel… and the Apple Watch with the Hungarian Telekom eSIM in roaming: zero signal, zero connection.

At the eclipse we also met German subscribers – for them, the Apple Watch eSIM worked perfectly in Spain.

By 14 September I was back from my second trip to Spain this year, and the watch hadn't connected once. When we contacted Telekom, the answer was that the quality of the service is declining, and Telekom Hungary no longer has service in Spain.

I've written up the details in the Apple Watch eSIM Reloaded case study.

2026's Other Fronts: No Signal and the Internet Down

No Signal – Not Even in My Own Flat

Since February 2026 I've lived at Vágóhíd utca 9, in the Cordia Woodland complex, where Telekom's mobile coverage is weak or zero across the whole building: in the flats, the stairwells, the storage rooms and the underground garage. An official complaint, seven case numbers, no site visit – and after 123 days, an offer to the building's joint representative: paid coverage, for the underground garage only.

There was no solution for the flats. The suggestion: use Wi-Fi calling. In other words, Telekom is asking existing customers in more than 200 flats to pay extra – and even that would only cover the garage. The full correspondence is in a separate case study.

The Internet Went Down – in the Middle of an SAP Brownfield Migration

On 15 October at 4 a.m., Telekom's fibre internet went down, and with it Wi-Fi calling and my mobile internet backup, because all three depended on the same provider. At the worst possible moment: in the middle of an SAP brownfield migration, when I had been asked to join because the team had already been fighting with SAP for more than 24 hours and was tired.

And this is where Wi-Fi calling comes back: there's no signal in the flat, the phone only works over Wi-Fi – so when the internet went, the phone went too. The night on the terrace with Vanda is written up in detail, and the project details are on my LinkedIn page.

What I've Learned in Three Years

• "Supported" doesn't mean "works". Telekom announced roaming in January 2023 – it started working in October.
• What worked last year may not work this year. Before you travel, always ask in writing whether Apple Watch roaming works in that country.
• One provider isn't competition. As long as there's only one option for the Apple Watch in Hungary, there's nothing to force quality.
• Document everything. In 2023 it was the documented tests and the NMHH case that moved things forward, not the customer service calls.
• Keep the roles separate. If it's a business subscription, act on behalf of your company – and if the provider contacts your employer or your client, that's not customer handling, it's an incident. Report it straight away.
• Don't sign an extra subscription for a device until it's in your hands. The subscription starts immediately, and there's no goodwill for the delay afterwards.
• On the other side of the border, the same technology works. My mother's Romanian watch proved it every single time.

What Do You Think?

• Why do you think Telekom Romania's Apple Watch eSIM worked in roaming while the Hungarian one didn't – within the same group?
• Is it acceptable for a roaming service that already worked to disappear from one year to the next in a country like Spain?
• Have you ever asked for a goodwill gesture because a device was delivered late? How did it end?
• Is it acceptable that existing customers in a city-centre residential complex have to pay for coverage?

Share your experience in the Szolgáltatói Problémák Facebook group.

Related Telekom Case Studies

• Telekom Apple eSIM, Apple Watch and MultiSIM Service Problems – Why eSIM, and the Road to the NMHH
• Apple Watch eSIM Reloaded – It Worked in 2024–2025, Not in Spain in 2026
• Telekom Hungary Behind Romanian and German Services – Experiences 2023–2026
• Telekom Mobile Coverage at Cordia Woodland – No Signal Across the Building
• Three Backups, One Point of Failure – A 4 a.m. Telekom Outage
• What a Modern Apartment Building's Internet and Wi-Fi Should Look Like
• Plan B – High Availability in the Home Office

Sources

• Magyar Telekom: first to offer eSIM in Hungary (13 June 2018)
• Orange România: Apple Watch Series 5 Cellular with eSIM and Number Share (2019)
• OTE: sale of Telekom Romania's fixed-line business to Orange (2021)
• OTE: sale of Telekom Romania Mobile to Vodafone Romania (2025)