Mobile phone peer-to-peer electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) transfer

1. A method of sharing electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) credentials between two mobile communication devices, comprising:

establishing a peer-to-peer wireless communication link from a first mobile communication device to a second mobile communication device by the first device;

changing a state of an eSIM of the first device by an eSIM sharing application executing on the first device to a transfer-in-progress state;

transmitting eSIM credentials to the second device via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application, where the eSIM sharing application reads the eSIM credentials from the eSIM of the first device;

changing a state of the eSIM of the first device by the eSIM sharing application to a disabled-transferred state; and

transmitting a disabled-transferred message to the second device via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application, whereby the second device is enabled to communicate on a cellular wireless communication network based on authentication using the eSIM credentials transmitted by the first device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving an eSIM transfer user code via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application from the second device; and

validating the eSIM transfer user code by the eSIM sharing application.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peer-to-peer wireless communication link is a WiFi wireless communication link, a Bluetooth wireless communication link, or a near field communication wireless communication link.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising transmitting a message to a network server by the second mobile communication device, wherein the message reports that the eSIM credentials are now associated to the second mobile communication device, whereby the network server is enabled to ensure that only one mobile communication device can use the eSIM credentials at a time.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

maintaining records of associations between eSIM credentials and device identities by the network server based on messages received from mobile communication devices reporting the associations; and

interworking with a media gateway or a cell site by the network server to ensure that only one mobile communication device can use the eSIM credentials at a time.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the cellular wireless communication network provides wireless communication service according to at least one of a long term evolution (LTE), a code division multiple access (CDMA), or a global system for mobile communications (GSM) telecommunication protocol.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first device is one of a mobile phone, a smart phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a headset computer, a wearable computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, or a tablet computer.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the eSIM credentials comprise at least one of a universal integrated circuit card identifier (ICCID), an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI), mobile station integrated service digital network identity (MSISDN), mobile dialing number (MDN) and at least one of a network authentication value or key.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the eSIM credentials comprises a mobile username and a mobile Internet Protocol (IP) password.

10. A method of sharing electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) credentials between two mobile communication devices, comprising:

establishing a peer-to-peer wireless communication link between a first mobile communication device and a second mobile communication device;

presenting a user interface on the second device by an eSIM sharing application executing on the second device, where the user interface prompts for input of an eSIM transfer user code;

receiving the eSIM transfer user code by the eSIM sharing application from the user interface;

receiving eSIM credentials from the first device via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application;

storing the eSIM credentials in an eSIM of the second device;

receiving a disabled-transferred message from the first device via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application;

changing a state of the eSIM of the second device by the eSIM sharing application to a disabled state;

prompting the user by the user interface to select the second device for transfer of the eSIM credentials and to use the second device for cellular wireless communication;

receiving an eSIM transfer input by the eSIM sharing application from the user interface; and

changing the state of the eSIM of the second device by the eSIM sharing application to an enabled state, whereby the second device is enabled to communicate on a cellular wireless communication network based on authentication using the eSIM credentials received from the first device.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising validating the eSIM transfer user code by the eSIM sharing application.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising transmitting the eSIM transfer user code by the eSIM sharing application via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link to the first device, whereby the first device validates the eSIM transfer user code.

13. The method of claim 10 , further comprising:

transmitting an equipment identity number (EID) of the second device via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application to the first device; and

receiving an EID of the first device via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application from the first device.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the eSIM credentials received from the first device are received in a message that comprises an EID value, and further comprising validating by the eSIM sharing application that the EID value matches the EID of the first device.

15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising validating by the eSIM sharing application that an EID value contained by the disabled-transferred message matches the EID of the first device.

16. A method of sharing electronic subscriber identity module (eSIM) credentials between two mobile communication devices, comprising:

establishing a peer-to-peer wireless communication link from a first mobile communication device to a second mobile communication device by the first device;

changing a state of an eSIM of the first device by an eSIM sharing application executing on the first device to a transfer-in-progress state;

transmitting eSIM credentials to the second device via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application, where the eSIM sharing application reads the eSIM credentials from the eSIM of the first device;

deleting eSIM credentials from the eSIM of the first device by the eSIM sharing application; and

transmitting an eSIM deleted message to the second device via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application, whereby the second device is enabled to communicate on a cellular wireless communication network based on authentication using the eSIM credentials transmitted by the first device.

17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising:

receiving an eSIM transfer user code via the peer-to-peer wireless communication link by the eSIM sharing application from the second device; and

validating the eSIM transfer user code by the eSIM sharing application.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein validating the eSIM transfer user code by the eSIM sharing application comprises requesting an authoritative copy of the user code from a network server by the eSIM sharing application and comparing the authoritative copy of the user code to the eSIM transfer user code.

19. The method of claim 16 , further comprising transmitting a message to a network server by the second mobile communication device, wherein the message reports that the eSIM credentials are now associated to the second mobile communication device, whereby the network server is enabled to ensure that only one mobile communication device can use the eSIM credentials at a time.

20. The method of claim 19 , further comprising:

maintaining records of associations between eSIM credentials and device identities by the network server based on messages received from mobile communication devices reporting the associations; and

interworking with a media gateway or a cell site by the network server to ensure that only one mobile communication device can use the eSIM credentials at a time.