The short answer
An eSIM installed before you fly is the one thing that makes a Lombok arrival easy, because the airport gives you very little else to work with. Lombok International sits inland near Praya, well away from the coasts most people are heading for, and it is a fraction of the size of Bali's airport. There is a drive at the end of every arrival, and you want a working phone for it. Telkomsel has the widest reach on the island, running 4G rather than the 5G you find in Jakarta or Yogyakarta.
A much smaller airport than Bali
Expect one modest terminal, a short arrivals hall, and far fewer services than Ngurah Rai puts in front of you. That is not a complaint: a small airport means you are through it quickly. It does mean the safety nets are thinner. Fewer shops, fewer counters, and quieter periods between flights when whatever is open may not be. Free airport Wi-Fi is generally available in the terminal, but as with any public airport network it is open, it can be slow, and it ends the moment you step outside to find your ride.
Getting online when you land
The reliable version of getting online at LOP involves doing nothing at the airport at all. An eSIM scanned at home attaches to the local network by itself once you switch off airplane mode, so the useful part of your phone is working while you are still walking to the exit. On landing, enable data roaming on the travel eSIM line and set it as your data line. That covers the two things that matter on the way out: pulling up a map of where you are actually going, and messaging the driver or property that is expecting you.
SIM counter or an eSIM you already have
There are usually SIM counters or kiosks in arrivals, and they work, but you pay airport prices and you pay in time. Indonesian law requires every SIM to be registered against a passport, so each sale is a form-filling exercise rather than a purchase. At a quiet airport that may cost you five minutes; when a flight has just landed it costs longer. A Goodbars eSIM is installed at home on your own Wi-Fi and lands already on Telkomsel. If your phone has no eSIM support, a counter SIM is still a perfectly good answer.
Onward transport from LOP
Everything from Lombok airport is a drive, and how long a drive depends heavily on which coast you chose. Kuta Lombok on the south coast is the closest of the popular bases, commonly around half an hour by car. Senggigi on the west coast is much further, often quoted at around an hour and a half, and the harbours for the Gili Islands are further still. Taxis and pre-booked transfers wait in arrivals. Ride-hailing apps do work on Lombok, though availability is thinner than in Bali and airport pickup arrangements can change.
Coverage across Lombok, honestly
Telkomsel gives you usable 4G in Praya, Mataram, Kuta Lombok, Senggigi and along the main roads between them, and it thins out from there. Inland around Rinjani, on quieter stretches of the south coast and out on the water toward the Gilis, signal gets patchy or disappears, which is true of every Indonesian network and not something a different SIM fixes. Plan around it: download offline maps before you leave the terminal, save your accommodation address as a screenshot, and treat a bar of signal as a bonus rather than a given.
