Like a spare tire: Ontario company launches backup option for mobile outages [Video]

When a service outage in July 2022 left millions of Rogers customers in the dark for up to 15 hours, it underscored the importance of being prepared in case of a similar emergency.

For some, that meant having lifelines in place that don’t rely on individual cellphone plans, such as alternative ways to call 911, or carrying extra cash on hand in case another blackout shuts down debit machines.

Now, a Waterloo, Ont., company is pitching what it says is another must-have in the event of a future telecom outage: an e-sim card that lives on your device and can connect you to an allotment of spare data.

Developed by Sweat Free Telecom founder Chanakya Ramdev, the e-sim can be installed through a QR code provided. If your carrier’s network goes down, you would then use your cellphone settings to activate the e-sim, which is programmed to automatically hop onto …