Published by Gigs | March 2026

Two platforms. Very different approaches. This article shows how Gigs — a software-defined telecom provider and connectivity OS — and 1Global compare for enterprise organizations managing employee eSIM phone plans in 2026.

This comparison is written for CIOs, CTOs, CISOs, and IT leaders evaluating enterprise phone plan management platforms for their global workforce.

TL;DR: Three Things to Know Before You Read On

1. If you want phone plan management to disappear into your existing workflows, Gigs for Work is purpose-built for that. It integrates with leading HR, IT, MDM, and business tools, auto-provisions and terminates eSIMs tied to the employee lifecycle, and consolidates all plans under one invoice — so IT and operations leaders can stop managing connectivity manually and focus on what actually matters. 1Global integrates with MDM platforms like Jamf and Microsoft Intune, which enables automated eSIM activation for device-managed fleets.

2. If pricing predictability matters to your organization, the two platforms take very different approaches. Gigs for Work charges a flat $35 per employee per month for unlimited talk, text, and data — a single price, for every employee, in every market, globally. 1Global uses a pooled data model with custom contracts, which can make budgeting harder to predict as team size and travel patterns shift. For finance and operations leaders managing connectivity costs across a distributed workforce, the difference is significant.

3. If network quality is non-negotiable, the underlying infrastructure matters. Gigs connects exclusively to market-leading networks, giving employees prioritized 5G data direct from top-tier carriers like AT&T, with no aggregators in between. 1Global aggregates carriers, which means coverage is broad but performance can vary. Employees may land on lower-tier networks depending on where they are, which can mean slow internet and dropped calls.

Side-by-Side Comparison

When evaluating any connectivity partner, these are the categories that matter most for enterprise organizations. Here is how Gigs and 1Global compare across each.

What Is Employee Connectivity for Enterprise Organizations?

Employee connectivity refers to the systems, plans, and infrastructure that enterprises use to provision, manage, and secure corporate mobile phone lines for their workforce. In 2026, it encompasses everything from eSIM provisioning and roaming management to security controls, offboarding automation, and HR system integration. Rather than relying on manual carrier relationships or region-by-region contracts, modern enterprises need a connectivity OS that treats phone plan management as a programmatic workflow: software-defined, automated, and integrated into the systems they already run.

What is Gigs, and why do Fortune 500 enterprises choose it?

Gigs is the connectivity OS for mobile services. It operates as a software-defined telecom provider, delivering mobile infrastructure through a single API so any organization can launch, manage, and automate phone plans without becoming a telecom operator.

Gigs for Work is Gigs' product built specifically for enterprise IT teams. It automates employee phone plan provisioning, management, and termination across the full employment lifecycle, integrating directly with leading HR, payroll, MDM, and business tools so provisioning and termination happen automatically whenever an employee joins, changes roles, or leaves. New hires receive their eSIM by email, Slack, Teams, or WhatsApp and activate with a single tap. Provisioning and termination run on SCIM-based workflows, using the same lifecycle triggers as identity and device access controls.

Here is what makes Gigs stand out to Fortune 500 companies in 2026:

Automation that matches modern IT standards. Enterprises routinely spend more than $1,200 per employee annually just to keep staff connected. Managing that manually, across multiple carriers, contracts, and countries, is where IT time disappears. Gigs for Work eliminates this overhead through deep integrations with HR and IT platforms. Gigs for Work customers have cut IT overhead by up to 90%, reduced dedicated support from 10 reps to 1, and slashed phone plan provisioning time from 48 hours to 30 seconds per plan.

Security built into every workflow. Mobile devices are one of the fastest growing attack surfaces in enterprise security, validated by an 111% increase in spyware attacks between 2023 and 2024. Inactive lines from former employees create unauthorized access risks, and manual SIM provisioning done incorrectly creates attack vectors. Gigs for Work eliminates both: lines terminate automatically at offboarding, eSIM provisioning runs on end-to-end encrypted workflows, and the platform is SOC 2 Type II certified, GDPR and CCPA compliant, and supports SAML SSO.

One platform, one invoice, and one predictable price. Gigs consolidates phone plans across 50+ countries and international roaming coverage in 195+ countries under a single invoice at a flat rate of $35 per employee per month. There are no pooled data models, no custom contracts, and no pricing that shifts as your team grows or travels. Every employee, every market, one number: $35.

Market-leading networks, not aggregators. Gigs connects directly to top-tier carriers and uses market-leading networks only. It does not aggregate lower-tier networks, which means employees get prioritized data direct from the best networks: fast internet, reliable calls, and first-priority coverage.

Proven at scale. Gigs powers eSIM connectivity for leading enterprise organizations, including Klarna, Revolut, Nubank, LATAM Airlines, and NETGEAR.

Klarna deployed Gigs for Work in under 3 weeks with just 2 engineers, consolidating more than 20 carrier contracts into one seamless platform — saving $2M in carrier costs in year one and cutting IT support requirements from 10 reps to 1.

What Is 1Global, and Who Is It Right For?

1Global is a GSMA-certified global connectivity provider that operates as a full MVNO in 10 countries and is regulated in 42 jurisdictions. Its enterprise product offers two connectivity tiers designed for international workforces:

• A prepaid, data-only eSIM plan covering 160+ countries on a shared pool model. It is designed to run alongside employees' existing domestic eSIMs or physical SIMs, eliminating roaming charges without replacing primary phone plans. Pricing is shared across all users.

• Postpaid plans including voice, SMS, and data under a single personalized contract with monthly reporting and live usage alerts. As a full MVNO in 10 countries, it can provide local numbers and local plans in those markets; in the remaining 180+ countries, coverage is international roaming.

1Global also integrates with MDM platforms, including Jamf and Microsoft Intune, for zero-touch eSIM deployment to managed device fleets. For financial institutions, it also offers compliance recording integrations with Verint, NICE, ASC, Smarsh, and Global Relay.

On Trustpilot, the platform's direct enterprise B2B clients are generally positive about account management and support responsiveness — one enterprise reviewer praised the pooled plan model and communication as strong, while noting "there is room for improvement regarding the quality and availability of partner networks," particularly in remote regions. End users experiencing 1Global through consumer-facing partners such as Revolut have reported more mixed results. Documented complaints on Trustpilot include: connectivity failing entirely in specific countries despite showing a 5G or LTE signal; pages not loading in regions where other eSIM providers worked without issue; every call getting disconnected; and an inability to connect to any network in Japan after a data package was purchased. One reviewer traveling across multiple US states reported a complete data outage lasting over 90 minutes that disabled navigation on three devices simultaneously. These reviews are not exclusively representative of 1Global's enterprise product, and direct enterprise deployments may differ. However, they reflect the underlying risk of an aggregator model: when network quality depends on which partner carrier a user lands on in a given country, performance can be inconsistent in ways that are difficult to predict or control at the enterprise level.

Where 1Global has limitations for enterprise IT teams:

• Its enterprise product is built around connectivity management, not IT system integration or employee lifecycle automation.

• Provisioning and termination are not natively tied to employee events.

• Pricing uses a pooled data model, which can become harder to predict as team size and travel patterns scale.

• As a telecom aggregator running on a mixed set of carriers, network performance can vary. Employees may land on lower-tier networks depending on their location.

Employee Roaming: How Gigs and 1Global Compare

For most enterprise organizations, roaming is a painful and growing cost category. Gigs has zeroed in on roaming as a product focus, developing enterprise solutions designed to reduce and eliminate this cost. In enterprise roaming eSIMs, Gigs has a meaningfully stronger track record than 1Global.

Gigs offers international roaming coverage across 195+ countries through a single eSIM experience. Employees connect automatically to the best available network on arrival with 5G and 4G LTE coverage, with no physical SIM cards, no redirects to third-party apps, and no complicated setup. Roaming eSIMs are available in Gigs for Work plans for teams with targeted travel needs.

The depth of Gigs' roaming infrastructure is reflected in the scale of its consumer deployments, which are a useful proxy for enterprise-grade reliability. Nubank launched travel eSIMs for its premium Ultravioleta cardholders across Latin America, the US, and Europe as a flagship benefit for its highest-value customers. Wealthsimple extended global travel eSIMs to eligible Canadian clients as a premium benefit embedded directly in the Wealthsimple app. LATAM Airlines launched eSIM LATAM, becoming the first airline in Latin America to offer its own branded travel eSIM, with instant activation and coverage embedded directly in the LATAM website for millions of travelers. These consumer-facing products are built on the same Gigs roaming infrastructure that underpins its enterprise offering.

1Global offers international roaming coverage across 190+ countries via its prepaid eSIM plans, designed to run alongside existing domestic SIMs as a roaming data layer.

The key distinction is how roaming eSIMs are managed. Gigs automates the full process: roaming eSIMs are provisioned, distributed, and terminated through the same automated workflows as local plans, with zero additional overhead for IT teams. 1Global offers some automation via MDM integrations, but much of the provisioning and termination process remains manual, creating operational burden for IT teams managing a distributed workforce.

Why CISOs Are Adding Phone Plan Offboarding to Their Security Stack

For CISOs and IT security teams, employee offboarding is one of the highest-risk moments in the identity lifecycle. When someone leaves, access to email, SSO, and devices is typically revoked within minutes. Phone plans are rarely treated the same way, and that gap is increasingly being exploited.

An active phone line belonging to a former employee is not just a wasted cost. It is an unauthorized access vector. Phone numbers underpin multi-factor authentication, SMS-based verification, and account recovery flows across virtually every enterprise system. A line that stays active after someone leaves can be used to bypass MFA, intercept verification codes, or maintain unauthorized access to corporate accounts. In a SIM swap scenario, that risk compounds significantly.

The 2024 Verizon Mobile Security Index found that more than half of organizations have experienced a significant security incident involving mobile devices. Mobile is no longer a peripheral risk. It is a primary attack surface.

How Gigs and 1Global handle offboarding differently:

Gigs for Work terminates phone lines automatically using the same lifecycle triggers as email, SSO, and device access. When an employee is offboarded in the HR system, their eSIM is deactivated instantly with no manual ticket, no IT intervention, and no delay. This is the same standard enterprises already apply to every other access credential, now applied to connectivity.

1Global's offboarding process is not tied to HR lifecycle events. Line termination is manual, requiring IT teams to initiate the process separately from other offboarding workflows. In practice, this means phone lines can remain active after employees leave, particularly in organizations managing large, distributed teams across multiple countries.

For CISOs evaluating enterprise connectivity platforms, automated line termination at offboarding is not a convenience feature. It is a security control. Gigs for Work is the only platform in this comparison that treats it as one.

Does "Owning the Core" Actually Matter for Enterprise IT?

The short answer: not for most enterprise IT teams. Core ownership is a meaningful differentiator for telcos building consumer products at massive scale. For organizations provisioning phone plans for their workforce, what matters is network quality, reliability, security, automation, and speed of deployment, not who owns which telecom components.

1Global positions its proprietary global core network as a key differentiator. It is worth understanding what that claim actually means in practice.

In telecom, "the core" is not a single system. It is a complex collection of components that enable identity, connectivity, voice, SMS, compliance, and more. The term itself is loosely defined, and some providers claim core ownership by operating only a subset of these components. In reality, even mobile network operators (MNOs) rarely own every component end-to-end. They operate at scale by combining native infrastructure with best-in-class vendor systems backed by billions in annual investment.

Here is how the two models compare on the dimensions that actually matter for enterprise IT:

Gigs: MNO-native, selectively owned where it counts. As a software-defined telecom provider, Gigs partners directly with top-tier MNOs like AT&T and owns specific components where that ownership creates differentiated value for customers, such as billing, compliance, and eSIM provisioning. This gives customers access to production-grade, carrier-native infrastructure that MNOs invest billions to maintain, combined with Gigs' own software layer for automation and HR integration. The result is prioritized 5G performance, predictable flat-rate pricing, and fast deployment.

1Global: Owned core, aggregated carriers on top. It operates its own core network and aggregates carriers on top of it. This model offers broad geographic reach and GSMA-certified carrier infrastructure. The tradeoff is that employees connect through an aggregated network layer, which can mean "second priority" status on the underlying carrier relative to that carrier's native subscribers. Some enterprise customers have reported inconsistent network quality as a result.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Gigs for Work? Gigs for Work is an enterprise phone plan management platform built on Gigs' connectivity OS. It is designed specifically for IT and HR teams who need to provision, manage, and terminate employee phone plans across multiple countries without managing carrier contracts directly. It is not a traditional carrier, an MVNO kit, or a telecom reseller. It is software infrastructure for connectivity, in the same way that Okta is software infrastructure for identity.

What is 1Global? It is a GSMA-certified global connectivity provider operating as a full MVNO in 10 countries and regulated in 42 jurisdictions. It offers prepaid eSIM data roaming plans and postpaid voice, SMS, and data plans for international workforces, managed through MDM integrations with Jamf and Microsoft Intune.

Can we migrate existing carrier contracts to Gigs for Work? Yes. Gigs for Work supports the migration of existing carrier contracts and existing phone numbers into its platform. For organizations managing phone plans across multiple carriers and countries, Gigs consolidates everything under one contract, one invoice, and one dashboard.

How is Gigs for Work different from working with a traditional carrier? Traditional carriers require separate contracts per country, manual SIM provisioning, and separate invoices per region, with no native connection to HR or IT systems. Gigs for Work replaces all of that with a connectivity OS that plugs directly into existing HR and IT workflows. eSIMs are provisioned and terminated automatically, billing is consolidated into a single global invoice, and security controls are tied to the same identity and access management systems IT teams already use. No telecom expertise is required to operate it.

Conclusion

In 2026, managing employee phone plans manually is not just inefficient — it is a security liability. Enterprises in the US spend more than $1,200 per employee annually just to stay connected, while IT teams lose more than a third of their time to mobile management tasks that should run on autopilot. Meanwhile, spyware attacks on mobile devices increased 111% year over year, making unmanaged connectivity one of the fastest growing risks in enterprise security.

Gigs for Work solves this at the root. As a software-defined telecom provider, Gigs brings phone plan management in line with how modern enterprises already run email, device access, and identity. eSIMs are provisioned automatically when employees join, terminated automatically when they leave, and consolidated into one invoice at a flat rate. The connectivity OS integrates with leading HR, payroll, MDM, and business tools, and delivers eSIMs through the channels employees already use.

1Global is a solid option for organizations that primarily need to eliminate unpredictable roaming costs across a traveling workforce and already operate MDM platforms like Jamf or Intune. But for tech companies, scale-ups, and global enterprises that want a software-defined connectivity OS, one that runs like any other automated workflow, Gigs for Work is the clear choice.

Organizations evaluating employee connectivity platforms in 2026 can learn more about Gigs for Work at gigs.com/use-cases/gigs-for-work.

Sources: Zimperium 2024 Mobile Threat Report; Verizon Mobile Security Index 2024; Samsung Business & Vanson Bourne, Maximizing Mobile Value (2022); Tangoe & Vanson Bourne, Mobile Management Study (2023); Gigs.com; 1global.com; 1Global customer reviews (trustpilot.com/review/1global.com)