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With Google announcing the Pixel 4 later today, it looks like the Pixel's previously crippled dual-SIM functionality will finally be usable.

GigSky, a global roaming SIM provider, told us exclusively this morning that it will support the new Pixel 4, making it by far the easiest pay-as-you-go option so far for people who need roaming data on that phone. GigSky's system will also roll back to the Pixel 3a line, as the company promised earlier this year.

"Our flexible global eSIM plans are now available across all platforms and that's exactly what our customers asked for; hassle-free, affordable connectivity. It's an exciting time for GigSky, as consumers and companies continue to transition to eSIM enabled devices, the response has been tremendous," GigSky CEO Ravi Rishy-Maharaj said.

GigSky currently offers several different plans, but its most common "regional" roaming plans include an 800MB day pass for $10, 1GB of data for $20, 2GB for $30, or 5GB for $50.

There are three main groups who tend to want dual-SIM devices: people who want home and work lines on one phone; people trying out multiple prepaid services because of promotional bonuses (popular outside the US); and people trying to do reasonably priced international roaming. GigSky is largely for the third group.

Dual-SIM functionality has a checkered history in the US. Typically, carriers have seen it as a potential support issue and banned dual-SIM phones from their shelves; arguments from people who want to have separate home and work lines on their phones haven't carried much weight. The first broadly sold phones in the US with dual-SIM support were the iPhone XS and XR lines last year.

The US approach to dual-SIM doesn't rely on two physical SIM cards but rather on "eSIM," a new software-based approach that gives carriers greater control over which phones their SIMs go into. Unlike with traditional SIMs, that means carriers can choose to be offered as an option on eSIM phones, or not.

Google's Pixel 2, 3, and 3a have all had dual-SIM support through eSIM, but it's been crippled by various hardware and software limitations. The Pixel 3a with Android 10 became the first Pixel phone to be able to support dual-SIM, dual-standby, allowing for two active lines at once. But in the US, that only offically works with Google Fi, Sprint, and now GigSky. (T-Mobile does not officially support it, but some people have said they've gotten it to work with T-Mobile.)

Apple has a vastly superior array of eSIM-supporting carriers than the Pixel phones right now. Along with AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Truphone, and GigSky, there are dozens of international carriers you can add to an iPhone. Hopefully, we'll hear about more eSIM carriers for the Pixel line later today.