Sure's pay-as-you-go eSIM and top-up rewards
Sure Jersey's pay-as-you-go page describes no monthly fee and no contract, with rewards when you top up. At the time of checking, a MySure top-up earned unlimited data plus local minutes and texts, with a £5 top-up valid 7 days (500), a £10 top-up valid 14 days (1,000) and a £20 or larger top-up valid 30 days (10,000). Top-ups made online, in store or at Payzone shops gave 5 GB, 10 GB or 20 GB instead of unlimited data. A footnote says maximum speed on new pay-as-you-go plans is capped at 10 Mbps, dropping to 7 Mbps after 1 GB of daily data until midnight.
On the eSIM request page you type in an email address, with Wi-Fi or a 4G or 5G connection, and an activation QR code arrives within minutes. That page lists rewards through Instant Top Up, for example 10 GB for £10 (14 days) and 20 GB for £20 or more (30 days), so the allowance depends on the way you top up. A physical SIM is posted free of charge after a short form. The page says credit added on or after 10 June 2026 expires six months after top-up, and a balance can be checked by dialling *#100#.
JT's local eSIM, starter pack and travel eSIM
JT's eSIM page lists a local Jersey eSIM for use in the Channel Islands with unlimited local calls and texts, valid 30 days, with 5 GB for £5 and 20 GB for £10 in one list and 5 GB for £10 and 20 GB for £15 in another, and £20 options in each. Its pay-as-you-go page lists Big Bundles of 5 GB at £10, 20 GB at £15 and unlimited data at £20, each valid 30 days, so the two pages do not line up and the shop should confirm what is on sale. On that page, a new physical pack from a JT shop is pre-loaded with 5 GB of local data and 50 texts and minutes for Channel Islands mobiles.
JT also sells a separate roaming eSIM, which it says is open to everyone, even if you are not a JT customer: UK and Europe data from £6 for 2 GB, then £9 for 5 GB and £16 for 10 GB, each valid 30 days, with Russia excluded. That product is for use elsewhere rather than in Jersey, so a visitor would use it on a later leg of the trip. Neither operator page states what identification a visitor needs to buy a local SIM, so ask in a shop.
Out-of-bundle rates: the part to watch
Sure's call and data charges page lists local internet usage at 25p per megabyte and texts at 25p per message to all destinations, with data charged in 1 MB increments. JT's pay-as-you-go page lists out-of-bundle data at 21p per megabyte, texts at 21p each, and calls to Channel Islands numbers at 54p a minute plus a 20p connection fee, and says its usage charges exclude GST. JT's eSIM page lists 19p per megabyte for local mobile data out of bundle. At those rates a single 10 MB download would cost £1.90 to £2.50 without an active bundle.
The practical rule is to activate a bundle or a reward before opening any app. Switch off background data until you have done so, and check the balance with the operator's code. Neither operator's pages we read describe a data-only visitor product with fixed pricing and no out-of-bundle fallback.
The new ETA, and photo ID inside the Common Travel Area
The States of Jersey says that from 23 April 2026 you may need an ETA to visit Jersey. It describes an ETA as a digital permission for tourism and visits of up to six months, valid for two years or until the passport expires, which is not a visa and does not guarantee entry. It says the rules follow the UK's, that most visitors from Europe, the USA, Canada and Australia usually need an ETA rather than a visa, that the fee is £20 each including children, and that you do not need a separate Jersey ETA if you hold a UK, Guernsey or Isle of Man one. British and Irish citizens are among those who do not need one.
Jersey is part of the Common Travel Area with the UK, Guernsey, the Isle of Man and Ireland, and the States of Jersey says there are no routine border immigration controls inside it, but you must travel with photographic ID to prove your identity and nationality. It says you do not need a passport when arriving from the UK, Guernsey or the Isle of Man, but a non-British and non-Irish traveller arriving directly from Ireland must travel with a passport, and everyone arriving from outside the area needs a valid passport. The airport's page repeats the photo ID rule and tells passengers to check their airline's requirements.
The regulator, and what we could not confirm about coverage
The Jersey Competition Regulatory Authority publishes a page on mobile network masts, which explains that it audits mast emissions each year and publishes the results on a dedicated site. It says it does not routinely test mobile coverage, but that in 2014 it carried out independent drive testing along the majority of the island's roads when assessing 4G licence obligations, and the colour-coded maps from that testing are on its page. They are more than ten years old, and we found no current coverage map showing signal strength by parish.
Nor did we find an official statement on how a visitor's home SIM from the UK or the EU is charged in Jersey. Check with your home network before you rely on your usual plan, and consider a local eSIM only for the days you spend on the island.
Emergency numbers
The States of Jersey Police website says to call 999 in an emergency and gives (01534) 612612 for non-emergencies, and it offers an online form for reporting non-urgent incidents. Our Jersey plan page covers data before you arrive.
Networks our Jersey plans use
These are the operators named on our plans for Jersey, taken from the plan data, so the list follows the catalogue.
- JT5G
- JT (Jersey) Ltd5G
- JT JerseyLTE
- Sure4G