How to fix Samsung Galaxy S23 USIM, phone and data access issue

Samsung has started shipping Galaxy S23 smartphones to consumers who have pre-booked after the Unpacked. In South Korea, early buyers of Samsung Galaxy S23 series reported having a common issue of broken calls, messages, and data access due to the USIM change.

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According to Samsung, when you insert a USIM card that you have been using into your newly bought Galaxy S23 smartphone, calls, messages, and data access may be blocked due to the USIM change, and you may receive a text message requesting authentication.

In case you don’t proceed with authentication by yourself using the URL received by the message, the use of data communication will be restricted. For clarification, it’s not an issue or bug from the phone side as it’s a common policy of South Korea Telecom, Korea Telecom, and LG Uplus.

All three network service providers follow Korea Information and Communications Promotion Association information provision consent procedure so that calls, messages, and data access are blocked when changing the USIM to verify the identity of the holder in the dual SIM (USIM and eSIM) model.

If you are having the same problem on your new S23 phone, you are advised to authenticate yourself using the self-authentication URL. What to do if the URL is not received or accidentally deleted? It’s simple, you just need to get in touch with your network provider.

“There may be differences in restricted items and timing for each carrier. If the subscription is opened at a telecommunications agency, the KAIT information provision agreement is included in the subscription form, so this problem does not occur.”

Galaxy models fall in authentication requirement:

• Galaxy S23 series
• Galaxy Z Fold 4
• Galaxy Z Flip 4
• Other eSIM / Dual SIM Galaxy models.

How to verify your identity

1. Inquire to the customer center of the telecommunication company you subscribed to
2. Contact the call quality department and receive the release URL
3. Connect to the network via WI-FI or hotspot
4. Access the URL
5. Proceed with authentication

Here are examples of URL via text message:

What is USIM?

We all are aware of SIM, whereas the USIM is the functional equivalent of the SIM in a GSM device. It is the entity, which stores subscriber-related info and implements the security functions pertaining to authentication on the user side in UMTS and LTE (3G and 4G) devices.